Witness follows driver who ran away from two-car crash in Youngstown
A witness helped track down a driver who tried getting away from the scene of an accident because he didn’t have a license, according to official reports from the Youngstown Police Department.
Youngstown police officers responded to a two-car crash involving a silver Ford Fusion and a silver Chevy Trailblazer.
The call came in to YPD dispatch around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday from a witness who saw the crash on Kirk Road.
What happened after the crash?
After the crash, witnesses in a house nearby told the police the driver of the Trailblazer ended up in a front lawn on Kirk Road.
According to police reports, there was “heavy rear end damage” to the Ford Fusion from being hit from behind.
Before police got there, witnesses saw the driver of the Trailblazer exit his car, reports say.
The witnesses described the driver as “in his late thirties to early forties with short brown hair” and had injured his foot.
Reports say the witnesses told the drivers they had called 9-1-1.
When the driver of the Trailblazer heard this, he got back in the car and “sped off backwards out of the yard and then west on Kirk Road still in reverse,” according to the police report.
The witnesses said the Trailblazer drove away toward Midlothian still going in reverse. Reports say the Trailblazer ran a red light “at Kirk Road and South Schenley Avenue continuing west in reverse.”
Another call came in at this time from a different driver; reports say that the Trailblazer almost hit this third vehicle on Kirk Road while driving away from the accident.
The witnesses who called police then followed the Trailblazer to a residence on South Wendover Circle
Police arrived to Kirk Road after the Trailblazer took off, according to reports.
Witnesses helped Youngstown police investigating the crash
Some YPD officers took statements from witnesses and the driver of the Ford Fusion, while the rest of the officers went to South Wendover Circle to locate the driver who fled.
The driver of the Ford Fusion told police she was about to make a left turn into a residence on Kirk Road when she was hit from behind.
Police were able to find the driver inside a home on that street and found the The Trailblazer had heavy front end damage on the passenger parked in a garage.
The driver was issued a citation for leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving and driving without a license, according to report.
YPD made sure he was the same driver of the Trailblazer that fled the accident by having the witnesses come back to confirm discreetly.
Reports show they had the driver stand outside on South Wendover Street with police, while another cruiser drove by with the two witnesses were riding in the cruiser.
Reports say this allowed the witnesses to see the driver. They confirmed it was the same man, who also later told police he had driven away from the accident on Kirk Road.
He told police he “fled because he didn’t have a license.”
The cars were both towed by Ludts Towing shortly before 7 p.m. and released later, according to police reports.
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