Accident reports show that former Lebanon officer Joe Bowen was the second person to die on Highway 70 at Smith Fork Creek.
According to reports, it was dark, the driver of the vehicle apparently fell asleep when his car left Highway 70, plunged over an embankment, overturned and came to a rest in Smith Fork Creek.
Those are details from a deadly accident that happened on December, 22 2009. They're eerily similar to the details that surround Officer Joe Bowens death on Thursday. However, at this time it's not clear why Bowen's vehicle left the road.
"They both went through the same identical space," said one resident who lives near the scene.
In both incidents, it's believed the vehicle left the road and narrowly missed hitting a guardrail, which would've prevented the vehicles from plunging down an embankment and into the creek.
A resident who witnessed the aftermath of both accidents said the State needs to take action. "What they need to do is take the guardrail and run it into that bank," he said.
We reached out to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. A spokesman tells us the department has requested information from the Safety Division on the specific location of Officer Bowen's crash, once they have it they'll send an employee to visit the actual site.
Adding more guardrail is something TDOT is capable of doing, assuming there's room for it. They won't know for a few more days if it's a job they'll consider but this resident believes someone should act quickly.
"Its happened before, it could possibly happen again," he said. "Fifteen foot would save a life it'd be well worth it."
