A spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol says it looks like a tire failure may have caused a fatal crash on Interstate 25 north of Cheyenne Friday afternoon.

Sgt. David Wagener says a Chevy van driven by 30-year-old Derrick Person of Cheyenne was headed south on I-25 about 26 miles north of Cheyenne a little before 4:30 p.m. on  Friday (July 22) when the driver side rear tire went out.

Wagener says the blown tire caused the van to go off the road into the west ditch, where it rolled several times. Both Person and his passenger 36-year-old Jearamie Johnson of Cheyenne were wearing their seatbelts, but Johnson was still killed by the crash.

Person was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and hospitalized. Johnson was the 51st highway death in Wyoming so far this year, compared to 80 deaths this same time in 2015.

The accident is still being investigated.

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