From The Bell County Sheriff's Department -
A short time before 2:30 on Monday June 17, 2024, Bell County Sgt. Frank Foster responded to a report of an accident with injuries on Highway 119 near the intersection of KY 2012.
Once on scene the sergeant observed that a Red Bull delivery truck had collided with the rear end of a coal truck. It was determined that the fully-loaded coal truck had pulled out from KY 2012 onto Hwy 119 headed towards Pineville moving very slowly. The Red Bull truck, headed the same direction, then crashed into the coal truck.
The impact of the collision caused the death of the delivery truck driver, identified by Bell County Deputy Coroner Jason Steele, as 53-year-old Denton "Denny Lee" Oakes of Somerset, Ky.
The driver of the coal truck was uninjured. Drugs and alcohol have been ruled out as factors in this incident.
Bell County Sgt. Frank Foster is in charge of the investigation.
Also responding to the scene was Bell County EMS, Bell County Rescue, Bell County Volunteer Fire Department, Bell County Sheriff Mitch Williams, Chief Deputy Jared Smith, and Deputies Austin Poindexter, Ryan Sams, and Samson Churchwell.
Such a nice ,easy going man full of life. I thought the world of him. He could make you smile no matter how bad of a day you where having. He was so funny. I worked at the coal bucket as a cook and he would always get food.
Prayers for his family I pray God brings them peace and comfort during this tragic time.
I worked at two places where he was one of the sales reps that came in. He was larger than life. The best personality and so funny! This breaks my heart! Prayers for his family in this hard time!