LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- Funeral arrangements have been announced for the Hodgenville police officer that was killed in a crash over the weekend.
Visitation for Officer Mark Taulbee is scheduled for 3 to 8 p.m. on Thursday and again from 9 to noon on Friday.
His funeral will follow.
All will held at the Hodgenville civic center.
What caused the crash that killed Taulbee -- that's the question one day after a tragedy in a small town.
As Hodgenville resident Scott Clemons explains, "It's pretty sad, pretty upset, pretty small community and we like to take care of our own around here."
"I think it's just a case you never think about it happening," says Craig Higgins, another Hodgenville resident.
As Hodgenville Mayor Terry Cruse puts it, "When you're in a small community it's not just the policeman from Hodgenville. We put a name with it."
Early Sunday morning, Officer Mark Taulbee slammed into an embankment and died after his police cruiser flipped and he was tossed from the car. He had been pursuing Jason Avis on State Route 210.
Police say Avis took a woman's car after a domestic disturbance and Taulbee spotted him. After the fatal crash, Avis eventually turned himself in.
The mayor tells WDRB their speed during the chase got up to at least 70 miles an hour: "I think it was one of the worst crashes I've seen in a police vehicle. It took a good lick when it hit the bank, and I knew."
Kentucky State Police are now heading both the crash and death investigation, revealing Monday that computerized accident recreation equipment will help them figure out what went wrong, when, and who's at fault.
Avis, already charged with fleeing and evading and wanton endangerment, could face more charges. The investigation is expected to take at least two weeks.
The mayor says, "It's hard. It's hard for me and his family. It's kind of one of those things where you leave to go to work and you just don't know."
We're told Taulbee had only lived in the city about a month and been with the department a little more than a year. The mayor says the city will host a memorial service in the fallen officer' s honor. His body will lie in state downtown one day this week.
It's a loss Hodgenville has never seen before. Taulbee's neighbor Christopher Skaggs says, "He's in a better place now instead of being here with us, but I know it's hard."
Taulbee leaves behind a wife and two children.
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