TEEN ROLLS CAR ON DIAGONAL ROAD

While State Troopers were dealing with the crash in Sheffield Township they received word of another crash in Carlisle Township and that one car was on its roof.

The driver Dan Rector, 19 of Elyria, and his passenger Grant Richmond, 17 of Elyria, were able to crawl out of this car after the crash. Rector told the State Patrol that he was driving his Dodge Neon SRT 4 along Diagonal Road at 55mph when a friend of his, in another car, tried to pass him, so he sped up. The friend, Dylan Trupo, driving a Ford Focus then bumped Rector’s car. Rector and Richmond then left the road striking mailboxes and a guardrail. The car then returned to the road flipping over and coming to rest on its top.

In a phone interview with Richmond he tells TMC NEWS that he remembers the crash but not getting out of the car. “I remember us going off the side of the road hitting the mailboxes and the guardrail then sliding back onto the road and rolling over, but I can’t remember how I got out of the car. I am guessing that I crawled out through the drivers side window cause my side was so smashed down.” Richmond said it was surreal being involved in the crash and he knows just how lucky he is. “After seeing what the car looks like I am surprised I am even talking to you right now, I know how lucky I am to be alive right now.”

Carlisle Township Firefighters and LifeCare Paramedics treated Rector and Richmond at the scene and transported both to Elyria Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. Both were released a short time later.

Rector also told Troopers that he had been drinking that night with friends. When asked when he had his first drink Rector said between 9 and 10 p.m., when asked when he had his last drink Rector said just before the crash.

Rector and Trupo have both been charged with Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated, Reckless Operation and Underage Consumption.

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