NEwS
March 10, 2023 | 11:45 in the evening
Nashville man, Jaco Barnhardt, with his family. Barnhardt was killed by a drag racer going 100 mph on Monday.
Kate Kastle/FaceBook
A Nashville father on his way to his daughter’s softball game was killed Monday when a drag racer going 100 mph lost control of his car, police said.
Jacob Barnhardt, 34, died shortly after he got out of his sedan and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Kate Kastle, Barnhardt’s girlfriend, told WEAU she was driving to pick up her two boys before going to her daughter’s softball game after work at the time of the crash.
“They just took him away from us,” Kastle said. “She gave up the job she loved to take the kids she loved.”
“He doesn’t miss anything related to children, ever. When I got the call from his son’s mom that he wasn’t at the game, and when my son’s dad called to ask if everything was OK because he didn’t accept boys, it was obvious I know something happened.
Police said two Dodge Challengers were drag racing southbound on Clarksville Pike when one of the drivers lost control, veered into the northbound lane and struck Barnhardt.
A Toyota pick-up driver was also hit by three vehicles but was not injured.
One of the drag racers fled the scene, while 31-year-old Patrick Ewin – who police say was the driver who hit Barnhardt – suffered minor injuries, but was jailed on a charge of vehicular homicide by indifference to Barnhardt’s death.
Barnhardt was a retired Army special forces combat medic who served 18 years based at Fort Campbell, Kastle said, describing him as a devoted family man who would do anything for his children.
Nashville police are still looking for the driver of the second Dodge Charger.
