CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (WHAS11) -- The Clark County Coroner's Office has identified the driver in Thursday morning's crash on Brown Station Way as Garrett Suddeth, 45.
According to Clarksville Town Manager Kevin Baity, emergency crews responded to an accident on Brown Station Way near McKinley Avenue around 9 a.m. Thursday. Crews found a Red Ball Recycling truck entangled with the pedestrian bridge in the middle of the road.
"I seen that truck flipped over and everything was smashed, and I knew it wasn't good," Travis Stotts, who lives next to the crash, said.
The crash was heard by many who lived nearby, like Rusty Neff and his wife.
"She was in the shower at the time," Neff said. "She said she felt the house shake when the guy hit the overpass."
"I just woke up and I was laying there watching TV and I just heard a loud boom," Stotts said. "I thought it was a bomb going off or something."
Suddeth was pronounced dead at the scene, according to officials. Crews found the bridge caught in with the back of the truck, which does lift up, but officials are not sure whether the back was raised at the time of the crash. Investigators spent the morning and afternoon working on accident reconstruction.
Stotts said he spoke with two people immediately after the crash who told him they were trying to warn the driver about the upcoming walkway.
"They were trying to speed up to try to get him to stop because they knew where he was headed, and he had his lift up, whatever, some kind of lift, and it caught the catwalk and pulled it down," he said.
Baity said this is not the first time the bridge has been hit. He said the bridge was hit this past summer, but crews had fixed it up and it was deemed safe to use.
"We've seen a few trucks hit it before, kind of bent the steel on it a little bit, but it's never been down," Neff said.
As investigators continue to piece together what led to the accident, neighbors also continue to process what happened, offering their condolences to the driver's family and loved ones.
"I'm sorry for the family and my prayers go out to them and the company," Neff said. "It's just a bad, tragic accident."
As of 5:50, Clarksville officials said Brown Station Way was back open to traffic.