A man whose vehicle was struck by another vehicle fleeing law enforcement has died of his injuries.
Ryan Jay Koehn, 26, of Columbus, died Friday night around 8 p.m. in Memphis at Regional One Medical Center. Koehn suffered severe injuries after his vehicle was struck by Tristan Blake Atkinson, 22, Wednesday night on the corner of Fifth Street and Main Street, Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said. Atkinson was being pursued by Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Merchant told The Dispatch Saturday morning he is taking the body back to Columbus and will request an autopsy to assist with the investigation by MHP.
“I’m having the body transported back as we speak basically,” Merchant said Saturday.
Atkinson led MHP troopers on a chase Wednesday night after refusing to pull over for speeding on Highway 182 east of Columbus. The chase ended downtown when Atkinson collided with a 2012 Ford F-150 driven by Koehn. Koehn was heading south on Fifth Street when he was hit, MHP Staff Sgt. Derrick Beckom said.
Koehn was airlifted from the Roger Short Soccer Complex and flown to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. Atkinson was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle with non-life-threatening injuries and later arrested.
Atkinson was charged with driving under the influence-first offense, fleeing or eluding, improper passing, speeding 30 miles an hour over the speed limit, seatbelt violation, reckless driving, driving without headlights, no license tag, two counts of improper passing and five counts of disobeying a traffic control device.
Beckom said new charges could be coming due to the death, but none have been filed because the crash is still under investigation.
“Because this is an ongoing investigation, as of right now, we haven’t changed any charges,” Beckom said.
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