Fatal Hardin County wreck during weekend storm leads to arrest

According to Kentucky State Police (KSP), at 8:53 pm on Saturday, June 27, they received a report of a single-vehicle collision near the 860 block of Bewley Hollow Road in Hardin County. The vehicle had overturned and was partially submerged in a flooded creek.

KSP Post 4 Trooper Tyler Walters, along with a deputy from the Hardin County Sheriff's Office and the Hardin County Emergency Management Coordinator, responded to the scene and entered the flooded creek to rescue the trapped occupants from inside the vehicle. Heavy rainfall and widespread flooding were impacting the area at the time of the collision. 

The preliminary investigation indicates that a 2005 Ford Mustang, operated by David Rhodes, 44, of Elizabethtown, was traveling on Bewley Hollow Road when Rhodes lost control of the vehicle. The Mustang overturned and entered the flooded creek, trapping Rhodes and two juvenile passengers inside.

First responders successfully removed all three occupants from the vehicle and immediately began life-saving measures.

All three occupants were initially transported to Baptist Health Hardin (BHH) in Elizabethtown. Rhodes sustained minor injuries and was treated and released. One of the juvenile passengers sustained life-threatening injuries was transferred to Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville, where the juvenile was pronounced deceased on Sunday, June 28, 2026. The second juvenile sustained minor injuries, was treated at Baptist Health Hardin and has since been released.  

During the investigation, Rhodes was determined to be under the influence of alcohol. He was arrested and charged with Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol and Assault, 1st Degree. Rhodes was lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center. Additional criminal charges are forthcoming.

The investigation remains ongoing and is being led by Trooper Jesse Harp. He was assisted at the scene by the Hardin County Sheriff's Office, Hardin County Emergency Management, Elizabethtown Fire Department, and Hardin County Central Fire Department.