Fatal Accident on Meridian Road May Have Been Intentional

By Patrick Orr, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Aug. 18–Ada County sheriff’s and coroner’s officials are investigating the possibility that a 20-year-old Kuna man may have intentionally driven his Jeep into the path of a semi-truck on Meridian Road Friday morning.

Nathaniel Wayne Barker was killed instantly when his northbound Jeep Wrangler drifted across three lanes and into oncoming traffic , where it hit the truck head-on about 6:45 a.m. Friday, according to sheriff’s reports.

The semi was pulling an empty cattle transport southbound on Meridian Road near West Aristocrat Drive. The truck driver was uninjured.

Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg said preliminary reports, including interviews with Barker’s family members and eyewitness accounts, are leading investigators to consider that Barker’s death may have been a suicide. Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Andrea Dearden confirmed that possibility is being investigated.

Dearden said eyewitnesses reported the Jeep “drifted” into oncoming traffic just prior to the fatal crash.

It took emergency crews several hours to remove the wreckage from the roadway and clean up a large amount of diesel fuel and transmission fluid on the road. Both lanes of southbound traffic were closed for more than four hours and northbound traffic was restricted to one lane.

Patrick Orr: 373-6619

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