Canfield man indicted in crash that killed state trooper

CANFIELD -- Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson came Friday to the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Canfield Post to announce that Ryan Rach, 36, of Canfield, has been indicted on a charge of third-degree felony aggravated vehicular homicide with a specification of a peace officer victim in the Oct. 16 crash on state Route 11 that killed trooper Nicholas Cayton.

Rach could get several years in prison if convicted, and the specification would add five years to Rach's sentence if he is convicted.

Rach was arrested at his home Friday morning and is now in the Mahoning County jail. It is not known when he will make his first appearance in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Cayton, 40, of the Canfield Post, was assisting truck driver Nelson De Jesus Herrera Vasquez, 65, of Florida, on state Route 11 northbound near Leffingwell Road before the crash. After making contact with Vasquez, Cayton was sitting in his cruiser with the emergency overhead lights activated when a 2007 Mack Granite, driven by Rach, traveling northbound, crashed into the back of Cayton's cruiser. Cayton was killed at the scene.

A crash report indicated Rach was not intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, but was "distracted." The section of the report involving distraction does not specify some of the common types of distraction, such as texting or talking on a cellphone.

It does not specify whether the distraction came from inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle. It indicates that the distraction was "unknown" or "other."

The report states that Rach was driving a flatbed truck owned by Quaker City Concrete Products of Leetonia. The report indicated that Rach and the vehicle he was driving as being the "unit in error" in the crash.

Wilson also announced that Rach faces a charge of aggravated vehicular assault as a result of the injuries to Vasquez, who was also struck and badly injured in the crash. That charge is a fourth-degree felony, punishable by about 18 months in prison if convicted.

After Wilson announced the basics of the charges in Rach's indictment, which was issued Friday under the name John Doe, he quickly focused on Cayton's wife and children and Cayton's "trooper family and the family of his broader community."

Wilson said, "Life goes on for ... those of you out there who were not directly impacted by this crash, by this death.

"But for Trooper Cayton's family ... there will forever be loss that they feel as a result of this defendant's actions." He mentioned the troopers around the perimeter of the news conference outside of the patrol post, saying "This post will never be the same. He was a beloved member of this post."

Wilson said the Ohio Attorney General's Special Prosecutions Division will handle prosecution of the criminal charges against Rach.

"I am comfortable with this case. I am comfortable with the evidence we have that will play out in court. And I am confident in the abilities of the prosecutors we have working with the investigators who worked on this case to take this case into court and to provide some measure of justice," he said.

Wilson explained the charges Rach faces regarding both victims allege that Rach "operated the motor vehicle recklessly" and caused Cayton's death.

He said recklessly is a legal standard that is higher than negligent. "And as a result of operating a motor vehicle recklessly, he caused the death of trooper Cayton."

The charge involving Vasquez also alleges Rach operated a vehicle recklessly.

An Ohio attorney general news release later Friday stated an Ohio State Highway Patrol investigation determined that Rach was allegedly distracted and using his cellphone before the crash."

CRASH REPORT

In the crash report for the accident, none of the other drivers or their vehicles were listed as having any "contributing circumstance" in the crash. Trooper Steven Tucci, an accident reconstructionist, is listed as the officer responsible for the report.

It stated after the cruiser was struck, it traveled forward into the back of Vasquez's disabled tractor-trailer, also striking Vasquez, who was standing outside the vehicle. Vasquez was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

The diagram showing the location of the vehicles involved in the crash shows Vasquez next to his truck at the time of the crash. It shows all of the vehicles in the right lane of the two northbound lanes.

At Cayton's funeral at Beeghly Center at Youngstown State University, the trooper was honored by Gov. Mike DeWine and other state officials, as well as people who knew him on a more personal level, for his love of his family and for his service -- as a state trooper and as an Ohio National Guardman deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 1,000 people attended his service, many of them fellow police officers.

LAWSUITS

Cayton's estate and Vazquez have filed lawsuits in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the crash.

Cayton's estate named as defendants TRDB Investments LLC, doing business as Quaker City Concrete Products of New Waterford; Rach, Vazquez; and John and Jane Does.

The suit alleges that "as a direct and proximate result of defendants' negligent conduct, (Cayton) suffered wrongful death and the next of kin, including but not limited to his wife, two children and his parents."

The suit states that Rach was working in the scope of his job with Quaker City at the time of the crash and that he "owed a duty to operate the Mack truck in a safe and reasonable manner and breached that duty by negligently operating the Mack truck." The suit alleges that Quaker City is "vicariously liable" for Cayton's "wrongful death."

The suit alleges negligent hiring of Rach by Quaker City, alleging that the company "knew or should have known that Rach was unfit, incompetent, inexperienced, unsafe or otherwise unable to safely operate the Mack truck under the circumstances then existing."

The suit also alleges negligence by Rach, stating that he "had a duty to operate his Mack truck in a safe and reasonable manner," that he "breached that duty" and his "actions were a direct and proximate cause of the crash."

The suit, filed by attorney Brian Kopp, alleges that Vasquez also was negligent, alleging that he "had a duty to maintain and operate his tractor-trailer in a safe and reasonable manner and his actions "were a direct and proximate cause of the crash."

TRUCK DRIVER SUIT

Vazquez's lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court names Rach and TRDB Investments, doing business as Quaker City Concrete Products, as defendants, as well as Progressive Direct Insurance. It alleges that Vazquez suffered "serious personal injuries."

The suit also alleges that Rach "was acting within the scope of his employment/agency with Quaker City" at the time of the crash. Quaker City "permitted Rach to operate the commercial motor vehicle involved in the incident ... despite Quaker City's knowledge of Rach's poor driving history."

The suit states that on Oct. 16, Vasquez was driving his truck in the right lane on Route 11 just past Leffingwell Road in Canfield Township and "legally maintaining his lane of traffic" when his truck "became disabled," prompting him to stop and inspect the malfunction. He dialed 911, resulting in Cayton arriving and parking behind the Vazquez vehicle with emergency lights activated.

At the same time, Rach came up from behind the Vasquez truck and the cruiser, and "Despite traffic slowing due to the earlier disabled vehicle and emergency response, Rach failed to stop in time as he approached the scene and violently struck the rear of the patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed, initiating a chain reaction collision," the suit states. Vazquez "suffered severe and disabling injuries," the suit states.

The suit states that Rach was "negligent. careless and reckless in the operation of his vehicle, and he had a duty to obey the traffic laws of the State of Ohio." The suit alleges that Rach failed to keep a proper and sufficient lookout for traffic on the roadway, failed to keep his commercial motor vehicle under proper control, failed to slow down or stop to avoid the collision, failed to alter his direction of travel to avoid the crash, operated his vehicle at a speed greater than reasonable and proper without regard to roadway and traffic conditions, failed to yield to other traffic and other allegations.

QUAKER CITY RESPONSE

Quaker City Products filed a response June 16 to the Vazquez lawsuit, stating several defenses, including that Vasquez failed to name "necessary parties" to the lawsuit, that the "negligence of (Vasquez) caused and / or contributed to cause the damages alleged" and that Vasquez's injuries and damages, if any, were caused by intervening and/or superseding causes for which these defendants bear no legal liability."

Furthermore, the Quaker City response denies that Quaker City permitted Rach to drive the truck "despite Quaker City's knowledge of Rach's poor driving history."

A check of driving charges in the Mahoning County Area Courts shows that Rach, 36, has had a number of cases since 2009, including an insecure load, no lights on, OVI and three charges of speeding.

Quaker City also denied the paragraph in Vazquez's complaint alleging that "despite traffic slowing due to the earlier disabled vehicle and emergency response, Rach failed to stop in time as he approached the scene and violently struck the rear of the patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed, initiating a chain reaction." The response denied that "Rach's negligence caused the collision."

The response also denied a paragraph that listed a number of things the suit alleged that Rach negligently did, such as failing to keep his vehicle under control or slowing down or stopping his vehicle to avoid striking the Cayton vehicle.

When TRDB Investment, doing business as Quaker City Concrete Products, responded to the Cayton lawsuit July 15, it alleged that the plaintiff failed to "join necessary parties" to the lawsuit. It also alleged that "the negligence of the plaintiff caused and or contributed to" the damages.

The response admits that TRDB Investments did at times employ Rach as a driver and that he did at times, operate vehicles within the scope of his employment.

The Quaker City response contains a cross claim against Vasquez that states that Vasquez was negligent and that "lack of maintenance and all related activity by co-defendant Vasquez, directly and proximately caused the accident and the injuries and damages sustained by plaintiff herein."

It adds that, "It was the actions, activities and inactions of co-defendant Vasquez that caused the subject accident."