Truck driver Teddy Johnson has been charged after striking Delaware County Sheriff’s Corporal Blake Reynolds who was on the side of the road helping another semi driver
According to police reports Delaware County Sheriff’s Corporal Blake Reynolds was on the side of the road helping a semi truck driver who was taking photos of a semi and its trailer as the two had become separated and was blocking part of the road
Truck driver Teddy Johnson would strike Delaware County Sheriff’s Corporal Blake Reynolds killing him.
According to reports Teddy Johnson had been driving for more than twenty hours and was on his cell phone at the time of the accident
Teddy Johnson has been charged with: Reckless homicide, Level 5 felony, Involuntary manslaughter, Level 5 felony, Failure to change lanes for an authorized emergency vehicle, Level 6 felony, and Reckless operation of a tractor trailer combination, Class B misdemeanor.
Needless to say Teddy Johnson CDL is history and he is looking at spending a long time in prison.
There are a number of troubling factors here and the one that jumps out is that he had been driving for over twenty hours before being involved in the collision that killed the officer. Obviously he was not following the HOS regulations and chances are he did not have a ELD or Electronic Logging Device. One has to wonder how often he was driving excessively and how he managed to avoid inspections at the weigh stations.
The other question is the company that he is working for. Do they encourage their drivers to run over HOS regulations and are they the ones who are editing logs to make it look like their driver is legal. The company which is now being sued is in deep trouble
Of course the use of a cellphone is troubling and unfortunately happens way to often
At the end of the day the officer lost his life and trucker Teddy Johnson life will never be the same
Teddy Johnson News
The semi-truck driver who hit and killed Delaware County Cpl. Blake Reynolds while he was helping a stranded driver had been awake for 21 hours and was using his phone shortly before the deadly crash.
Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman said 39-year-old Teddy Johnson, of New Haven, Indiana, was arrested Monday, April 27. Prosecutors charged him with the following:
Reckless homicide, Level 5 felony
Involuntary manslaughter, Level 5 felony
Failure to change lanes for an authorized emergency vehicle, Level 6 felony
Reckless operation of a tractor trailer combination, Class B misdemeanor
Indiana State Police troopers executed a sealed arrest warrant to take Johnson into custody, and he was booked at the Delaware County Jail. A judge ordered Johnson be held without bail, pending further order from the court.
Bruce. Jr. and Melissa Reynolds, parents of Blake, shared the following statement with 13News regarding the arrest:
“We are thankful for the investigation conducted by the Indiana State Police and the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office that led to the arrest of Teddy Johnson. We look forward to justice prevailing and being served for the careless and senseless death of our son. While we know nothing will ever bring Blake back or lessen the pain of losing him, we hope this process helps prevent another family from experiencing the same heartbreaking loss.”
“This is just another step in the process of holding somebody accountable for this completely unnecessary and tragic loss,” Delaware County Sheriff Tony Skinner said. “We’d hoped that today would come, and we’re glad it’s here. It doesn’t make the healing process any easier, but it gives us a little bit of satisfaction to know the process is still working.”
13News talked to Bruce Reynolds Sr., Blake’s grandfather, shortly after an arrest was announced.
“Relieved. For myself, relief, because it has been such a long period of time,” Bruce Sr. said about Johnson’s arrest. “The issue is you can never bring back Blake. Hopefully justice will be served, and this man will be taken off the streets, but it doesn’t bring back Blake.
“Blake was an outstanding individual. I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Bruce Sr. said. “We hope and pray that out of this tragedy, some good may come out of it. Maybe there will be some laws passed that will help prohibit something like this from happening again.”
“He was a great guy, great supervisor,” Skinner said of Reynolds. “(He) had an awesome potential here. (He) had a great future with the sheriff’s office.”
The crash was reported around 3:30 a.m. Nov. 12, 2025, along northbound Interstate 69 at the 247 mile-marker, near Gaston.
Reynolds, 31, stopped to help a semi-truck driver as the Volvo semi was stopped partially in the roadway.
Reynolds was taking photos of the truck and the trailer, which had partly slid off of the truck.
According to court documents, a dash camera in Johnson’s truck clearly showed the flashing lights of Reynolds’ cruiser in the right lane of the highway. There were no other cars on the road that might have blocked Johnson’s view.
But the dashcam also showed that Johnson didn’t try to change lanes until less than a second before crashing into the back of the parked cruiser. The police vehicle went flying off the road, and Johnson’s semi smashed into the back of the stopped truck’s trailer.
Reynolds was on the other side of the trailer, taking photos, when the crash happened. The stopped truck’s trailer hit him.
Medics transported Reynolds to Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, where he was pronounced dead.
Medics transported Johnson via helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he underwent immediate surgery, according to Indiana State Police.
Police interviewed Johnson at the hospital, and they asked him if he had ever caught himself falling asleep on the road.
“Not going to lie,” Johnson allegedly said. “I have before.”
The dash camera in the truck also showed Johnson. Police say in the lead-up to the crash, Reynolds could be seen using his phone for social media and that he was clearly exhausted.
“Johnson was physically struggling to stay awake,” an investigator said in the charging documents
Police got warrants to search Johnson’s phones and found he had been awake and active for more than 21 hours in the lead-up to the crash. Not all of it was on the road: Some of that time was spent taking his son to-and-from both a babysitter and preschool.
“It appears they left no stone unturned, and I’m glad they didn’t rush it,” Skinner said regarding the investigation.
“This is a heartbreaking loss for our law enforcement family and for the entire Delaware County community,” the sheriff’s office said. “We are grateful for the outpouring of support and prayers from the public and thank all the assisting agencies who responded to this tragic scene.”
13News reached out to Prairie Farms, the company which owns the semi-truck which hit Reynolds’ patrol vehicle and the stopped semi.
“Prairie Farms is deeply saddened by the tragic accident that claimed the life of a Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputy. Our thoughts are with the deputy’s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. We are closely monitoring the situation and awaiting full details from the accident investigation,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Prairie Farms shared this statement about a week later:
“Prairie Farms Dairy continues to extend its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Corporal Blake Reynolds of the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office. We are aware of the updated crash report and continue to cooperate fully with investigators as they work to determine the facts of this tragic accident.”
Reynolds had been with the sheriff’s office for four years.
“(Reynolds) quickly distinguished himself through his hard work, professionalism, and leadership, earning promotion to the rank of Corporal,” the sheriff’s office said. “Blake was known for his unwavering dedication to duty, his compassion for others, and his deep commitment to serving the people of Delaware County.”
According to the sheriff’s office, Reynolds served in the Army Reserve before joining the sheriff’s office in 2022.
“He was a true leader,” Delaware County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jeff Stanley told 13News. “Got leadership skills through the military that carried over through to the sheriff’s office.”
Reynolds and his wife, Allison, got married in June 2025.
Approximately three months after the crash, Reynolds’ wife, Allison, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the two semi-truck drivers involved, their employers and the owners of one of the trucks.
According to the lawsuit, the driver of the truck stopped partially in the roadway is accused of operating the semi “while fatigued, inattentive and distracted,” “at a speed unreasonable under the circumstances” and “off of the paved portion of U.S. Interstate 69.” That’s all while allegedly “failing to maintain control” and “creating a hazard.”
Also in the lawsuit, the driver of the truck that lost control and crashed into the corporal’s car and the other semi-truck is accused of operating the semi “while fatigued, inattentive and distracted,” “at a speed unreasonable under the circumstances,” and “failing to maintain control.” He’s also accused of failing “to yield to the presence of emergency or law enforcement vehicles,” “to slow or brake to avoid a collision,” “to warn of his approach” and “to take other evasive action to avoid a collision.”
Donny Parrish, who owns the leasing company that one of the truck drivers worked for, told 13News, through his attorney, that he and his family “are continuing to pray for the family of Corporal Reynolds every day since the tragic accident. The company is also continuing to cooperate with the State Police in the ongoing investigation and is unable to comment further on the ongoing investigation or the lawsuit at this time.”
