UPDATE: Dan Ripepi, of A. Ripepi & Sons Funeral Homes, killed after overhead I-480 highway sign toppled onto his pickup truck

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Dan Ripepi, of A. Ripepi & Sons Funeral Homes, was killed after a highway sign crashed onto his Ford pickup truck on I-480 Thursday morning.

The accident happened around 8:30 a.m. on I-480 west at State Road.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers said a dump truck, with its bed raised, hit the sign, which then fell onto Ripepi’s pickup truck.

Lt. Rob Gable said when the sign fell it hit the Ford pickup in the front end “but it also landed on the truck. It’s a large trust so part of it hit the front of the truck but part of it hit the top.”

Gable said “all the witness accounts say [the dump truck bed] was fully raised when it struck the sign.”

At its highest point, the lifted dump truck is 25 feet. The clearance height for the sign is 17 feet.

Gable said part of the investigation is “determining whether there was something wrong with the truck or something the driver did that caused the truck to operate the way it did.”

The dump truck driver was not injured.

An ODOT spokesperson said the dump truck operator was working on an ODOT construction project between I76 and State Road.

ODOT said they contracted with Karvo who subcontracted with CJ Zac who subcontracted with an independent contractor, Midland Concrete and Sand Transportation Inc.

Cleveland officials released this statement regarding Ripepi’s death:

Return to 19 News for updates.

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