BERLIN – Two young men were killed in an accident on Route 50 in Berlin late last Friday night when the vehicle they were traveling in left the roadway after what appears to have been a race with another vehicle.
Religious symbols, photographs, stuffed animals and other personal items along with broken bits of the car mark the spot along Route 50 near Logtown Rd. in Berlin where an accident claimed the lives of Jason Alan Joseph, 22, of Eden, Md., and Donald Wayne Strought, 25, of Salibury, in an accident shortly before midnight last Friday. According to witnesses, the victims were apparently in a high-speed race with another vehicle on eastbound Route 50 when the driver, Joseph, lost control of his car and overturned in the median.
Witnesses told police one vehicle passed them in the fast lane and then another vehicle passed them on the shoulder of the road. The driver of the vehicle that passed them on the shoulder, later identified as Joseph, lost control, crossed over the highway and overturned in the median. Joseph and his passenger, Strought, were killed in the accident. According to police reports, alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the cause of the collision.
The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Collision Reconstruction unit is investigating the crash and is asking for information pertaining to the second vehicle observed traveling at a high rate of speed in the area of Logtown Rd. and Route 50 just west of Berlin at the time of the accident.
The second vehicle is described only as a blue or dark colored car. Anyone with information is urged to call the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office at 410-632-1111 and ask for Sgt. Ed Schreier or Dfc. Shawn Goddard.