Centre County coroner identifies Boalsburg man killed in State College crash
The Centre County Coroner’s Office identified Tuesday the driver who died Sunday after crashing into a concrete barricade that borders a State College construction site.
Benjamin Bae, 83, of Boalsburg, died of chest trauma, county Coroner Scott Sayers wrote in a statement. His death was ruled accidental.
He was driving a Hyundai Elantra about 1 p.m. Sunday when he accelerated through through the Schlow Centre Region Library parking lot and into A Alley, which runs between South Allen and South Pugh streets, borough police wrote in a statement Monday.
Bae hit a wall that borders the construction site at the former Days Inn, which along with two adjoining business was demolished to make way for a new six-story student apartment complex.
His 78-year-old female passenger was flown to Geisinger Medical Center for treatment of severe injuries, police wrote. She was listed in stable condition.
Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be a factor in the crash, police wrote. An investigation is ongoing.
There were eight fatal crashes between 2013 and 2022 in State College, state Transportation Department data showed. That was tied for the fourth-most of any municipality in Centre County, behind rural Rush, Potter and Walker townships.
