Gage County Crash Kills One, Another Cited For Vehicular Homicide

PICKRELL, Neb. –(KFOR July 2)–An 82-year-old Odell man died, after the tractor he was driving was hit by a semitruck on Highway 77 about a mile north of Pickrell on Monday night, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

Robert Snyder was driving the tractor northbound with his hazard lights flashing and on the far right side of the highway, when the semi hit it, the Gage County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday.

The northbound semitrailer struck the left side of the tractor, knocking off a rear wheel, despite a last-second veer by the truck driver. The State Patrol says the trucker, 38-year-old Troy Smith of Crete, was distracted in the moments before the crash.

Smith was as arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor vehicular homicide.