Fort Campbell soldier attacked by wasps, killed by cars

A Fort Campbell soldier who'd just been attacked by wasps died trying to flag down a car on Highway 41A in Pleasant View early Sunday morning, according to Jeff Landis, a detective with the Cheatham County Sheriff's Office.

Austin McGeough, 21, was trying to hail a car to take him home after a party, Landis said. "He leaned out too far, and his knee hit the front bumper," Landis said.

McGeough's body was spun around, and his head hit the car the car, killing him.

Landis said the driver then pulled over and tried to stop traffic, but two other cars coming from the other direction ran over McGeough's body.

The detective said he learned from a "very reliable source" that McGeough had been mixing alcohol and crushed Percocet that he had been given for a surgery he had to remove his wisdom teeth.

McGeough pleaded guilty to public intoxication in February, according to Montgomery County court records.

A toxicology screening had not been performed as of Monday night.

Before his death, McGeough had broken into the Pleasant View Nursery on Highway 41A. Landis speculated that McGeough was not trying to break in "to cause mischief," but was rather "so disoriented" that he thought the nursery was the location of the party he had just come from.

Landis said that McGeough reached through a broken window covered in cardboard to unlock the back door of the nursery and put his hand through a wasp nest that had been built behind the cardboard.

McGeough called 911 and told the operator he was being chased. Fifteen minutes after police received that call, they received a call that a pedestrian had been hit on Highway 41A, Landis said.

In that time, McGeough entered the nursery and "trashed the inside," according to Wendy Young, who was helping to clean up the nursery. Young said that McGeough had eaten leftover pizza and used the bathroom.

Landis said McGeough made a call to his girlfriend to tell her he had gotten stuck under a shelf that he had knocked over. At some point, McGeough freed himself and walked out the front door towards the highway.

Highway 41A was shut down from 4 a.m. until noon, Landis said.

Max Smith is editor of The Ashland City Times. He can be reached at 615-792-0036 or on Twitter @maxrsmith217.