WAKARUSA – Police have released the identity of a Mishawaka man killed in a two-car collision just east of Wakarusa.
The crash happened around 7:30 Wednesday morning near County Roads 7 and 40.
Elkhart County police say 71-year-old Joseph Richard was headed south on C.R. 7 when he came to a stop sign at C.R. 40. That intersection has a 2-way stop. East and west traffic is not required to stop, although police say the driver may have thought it was a 4-way stop. The man stopped but then moved through the intersection just before his car was hit by another vehicle, slid through the southwest corner of the intersection and flipped on its roof.
Richard died on the scene. Police say Richard was not wearing a seat belt. However, his passenger, 72-year-old Thomas Klaer of Mishawaka, was buckled up. Klaer was taken to South Bend's Memorial Hospital with broken ribs and was in stable condition.
The driver of the other car, who was a teenager, was also wearing her seat belt and suffered only minor injuries.
Richard was president and owner of Schindler-Richard Insurance in Mishawaka.
