Route 322 WB Pottstown Pike Exit, West Chester, PA 19380
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Author: Jewls Krueger
The Ryan Dunn crash site is on the westbound Route 322 bypass in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, just before the Route 100 (Pottstown Pike) exit outside West Chester. There, in the early morning of June 20, 2011, "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn and his friend Zachary Hartwell were killed when Dunn's Porsche left the road, struck a guardrail, and hit a tree.
Investigators estimated he was driving between 132 and 140 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone, with a blood alcohol level more than twice Pennsylvania's legal limit, less than an hour after the pair left a West Chester bar.
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Ryan Dunn - Creative Commons: Andres Perez
Ryan Matthew Dunn was born on June 11, 1977 in Medina, Ohio. His family lived briefly in Williamsville, New York before settling in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he attended West Chester East High School. He met fellow future "Jackass" star Bam Margera on his first day of high school.
In the late 1990s, Dunn, Margera, and a group of friends in the West Chester area formed an amateur stunt and skateboarding video collective called CKY, short for "Camp Kill Yourself." Dunn was working as a welder and at a gas station when the CKY videos caught the attention of producer Jeff Tremaine. He went on to become one of the original cast members of MTV's "Jackass," which premiered in October 2000 and ran for three seasons through 2002. Dunn appeared in all of the franchise's major theatrical releases, including "Jackass: The Movie," "Jackass Number Two," and "Jackass 3D."
In the years that followed, Dunn also hosted the MTV prank series "Homewrecker" and the G4 cable program "Proving Ground," the latter of which had premiered just nine days before his death. He had a long history of fast driving, and the Philadelphia Inquirer would later report he had received at least 23 driving citations, including a 2005 DUI arrest, in the 13 years before the crash.
Zachary "Zach" Hartwell, 30, was a West Chester resident, an Iraq War veteran, and a recently married newlywed. He had served in the U.S. Navy as a gunner's mate and completed two tours in Iraq. After leaving the service, he worked as a production assistant on "Jackass Number Two" and as a stunt driver in Bam Margera's 2009 film "Minghags."
On the evening of June 19, 2011, Dunn and Hartwell spent several hours drinking at Barnaby's of America, a popular bar in West Chester just a few miles from the eventual crash site. Hours before the crash, Dunn posted a photo to his Tumblr and Twitter accounts showing himself and Hartwell drinking at the bar. The bar's manager would later tell NBC10 Philadelphia that Dunn had not appeared visibly intoxicated and that he had left the bar around 2 a.m.
Shortly after, Dunn and Hartwell were traveling westbound on the Route 322 bypass through West Goshen Township in Dunn's 2007 Porsche 911 GT3. Just before 3 a.m., as the Porsche approached the exit for Pottstown Pike (Route 100), the vehicle left the road, struck a guardrail, traveled roughly 40 yards through a wooded ravine, and slammed into a tree before bursting into flames. Investigators recovered roughly 150 feet of skid marks at the scene.
Both Dunn and Hartwell were killed instantly. The Chester County Coroner's Office determined that both men had died of blunt force and thermal trauma, with the deaths officially ruled accidental. The damage to Dunn's body was so severe that he was identified by his distinctive tattoos and beard.
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Within days, the West Goshen Township Police Department announced the results of its initial reconstruction. Investigators estimated that the Porsche had been traveling between 132 and 140 miles per hour at the time of the crash, in a 55 mile per hour zone. A toxicology report determined that Dunn's blood alcohol concentration was 0.196 percent, more than twice Pennsylvania's legal limit of 0.08 percent. No other drugs were detected.
In August 2012, Hartwell's parents filed a wrongful death civil suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, naming the co-administrators of Dunn's estate and Barnaby's of America as defendants. Dunn was buried at Highland Drive Cemetery in Brecksville, Ohio.
Fans gathered at the Ryan Dunn crash site - Creative Commons: EWM
The crash site is located along the westbound lanes of the Route 322 bypass in West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, near the exit for Pottstown Pike (Route 100). In the days and weeks after the crash, an impromptu memorial appeared at the scene, with fans, friends, and mourners leaving flowers, candles, teddy bears, toy cars, and handwritten messages including "Only the good die young" and "R.I.P. Ryan Dunn" on the guardrail.
The location remains a popular pilgrimage site for fans, particularly around the anniversary of the crash each June. In the months after the accident, additional warning poles were installed by the state at the location where Dunn left the highway.
The crash site sits along an active, high speed highway. Please do not stop along the shoulder of Route 322. Please be respectful of the surrounding community, follow all posted signage, and stay clear of moving traffic at all times.
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