Teen killed in crash-High speeds suspected as cause

A Rock Island teen was killed Saturday morning in a high-speed crash near Eastside School.

The victim, Benjamin Ross Dove, 18, was pronounced dead on arrival at River Park Hospital on Saturday, killed when he was thrown from his car when it crashed and rolled off Old Rock Island Road, the former Highway 70 which runs nearly parallel to Sparta Highway.

According to highway patrolman Donnie Clark, the accident happened around 12:50 a.m. Saturday as Dove was traveling westbound, heading toward McMinnville, in his Dodge STX. Evidence at the scene suggests the teen was traveling at a high rate of speed when he came upon a curve and was unable to hold his car on the road of the two-lane highway.

Dove’s vehicle then traveled onto the right shoulder before he overcorrected, driving back onto the pavement and across onto the left shoulder. The vehicle then traveled on across the shoulder and entered a deep ditch, slamming into a dirt wall at a high speed. The impact ejected Dove from the driver’s compartment and threw him several yards from the wreckage. The car came to rest near the shoulder on its top.

Obituary information for Mr. Dove is on page 2-A.