Teen dies in ATV crash near Deerfield

SUMMERFIELD TWP. — A teenager died June 26 in an all-terrain vehicle crash on private property east of Deerfield, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Two other juveniles who were with the 16-year-old boy from Petersburg when the 2021 Polaris Ranger crashed in the 19700 block of Taft Road were treated at the scene then taken to a hospital by their parents as a precaution, a news release from the sheriff’s office said.

The preliminary investigation showed that the 16-year-old was operating the ATV shortly before 5:30 p.m. in a private field south of Taft Road in Summerfield Township, the release said. Two juvenile passengers were also in the vehicle. While negotiating a curve, the operator lost control of the Polaris and left the main path to the north. The operator attempted to correct the vehicle’s direction, causing the Polaris to overturn onto its left side, ejecting all three occupants.

The 16-year-old was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Alcohol is not a factor in the collision, the release said. None of the occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

Names of the driver and his passengers were not released.

Members of the Summerfield Township Fire Department, Monroe Community Ambulance, and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Victim Services Unit and Chaplain Program assisted at the scene.

The crash remains under investigation by Lt. Brian Quinn and Deputy Sheriffs Cody Carena and Hunter Chirillo of the sheriff’s office’s Traffic Services Division.