Lang
8/5/24
A University of Iowa professor was killed and four others injured in a four-vehicle crash north of Solon on Sunday.
The Iowa State Patrol says a 2015 Jeep Cherokee being driven by 41-year-old Thomas Hebel Perkins of Cedar Rapids was westbound on 140th Street just after 5:30 Sunday night when he drove through a stop sign at Highway 1 and crashed into a camper being towed by a 2013 Chevy Silverado being driven by 63-year-old Randy Rouse of Mechanicsville. The Cherokee went through the camper and struck a southbound 2018 Toyota Rav4 being driven by 77-year-old Usha Mallik of Iowa City. A fourth vehicle, a southbound 2011 Honda CRV being driven by 22-year-old Becky Lu of Bettendorf, was hit by flying debris from the accident.
The State Patrol says Mallik, who officials confirmed was a Professor Emeritus with the University of Iowa, died at the scene. Hebel Perkins was airlifted to the University of Iowa Health Care Campus Medical Center, while 34-year-old Samatha Hebel Perkins of Cedar Rapids, 46-year-old Matthew Charles of Paris, France, and a one-year-old child from Cedar Rapids were all transported to the campus medical center via Johnson County Ambulance.
The accident remains under investigation.