Man accused of drunken crash pleads not guilty
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WARREN -- Dominique L. Dorsey, 37, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the six charges he faces in the June 17 crash at U.S. Route 422 and state Route 5 in Warren Township, including involuntary manslaughter, in the death of a driver whose car he reportedly struck at 106 mph.
Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Mary Ellen Ditchey ordered Dorsey's bond remain at $350,000. Dorsey was transported into the courtroom in a wheelchair by a sheriff's deputy, apparently because of the injuries Dorsey suffered in the crash.
In addition to the first-degree involuntary manslaughter, Dorsey was indicted last week on vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, and two misdemeanor drunken driving charges.
The involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, accuses Dorsey of causing the death of Sandra Swann, 66, of Cortland as a proximate result of Dorsey committing or attempting to commit failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer.
The aggravated vehicular homicide charge accuses Dorsey of causing Swann's death as a result of committing a drunken-driving offense.
The third charge, aggravated vehicular assault, accuses Dorsey of causing serious physical harm to the 17-year-old passenger in Dorsey's car at the time of the crash. The charge notes that Dorsey also was driving under suspension at the time.
The failure to comply charge, a mid-level felony, accuses Dorsey of refusing to stop after Warren police attempted to make a traffic stop on the silver Hyundai Santa Fe that Dorsey was driving that morning.
In leaving Dorsey's bond at $350,000, Ditchey noted the high-level felonies Dorsey faces.
Judge Cynthia Wescott, for whom Ditchey works, will preside over Dorsey's case. Dorsey's first pretrial hearing will be at 1 p.m. Sept. 30.
Ditchey asked if Dorsey had any questions at the end of the hearing and he said, "No, ma'am."
A Warren police report states that the Santa Fe was "traveling northbound on Southern Boulevard" in Warren, and Dorsey "made several traffic infractions. Detectives stopped the vehicle on Parkman (Road), but it slow rolled until it turned onto Coit (Drive NW) and came to a stop."
It states, "Once detectives were out of the unmarked sedan, (the Santa Fe) then fled at a high rate of speed. The vehicle then crashed near the intersection of state Route 82 and Parkman Road. The driver was handcuffed and transported to the hospital."
Swann was at a stop sign on the Route 5 exit ramp to Route 422 about 1.8 miles away and attempted to make a left turn onto Route 422. Her car was struck by Dorsey's vehicle, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash.
The report states that Dorsey, of Leavittsburg, suffered suspected serious injuries, as did a passenger in the car who lived in Warren. Swann, who had retired in 2024 as director of nursing for the Trumbull County Combined Health District, formerly known as the county health department, was killed in the crash.
Swann was regularly consulted by news-gathering organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic and for many years before that regarding drug overdoses and drug overdose deaths in the Mahoning Valley.
One of Dorsey's drunken driving charges alleges that Dorsey's blood alcohol level was between 0.08 and 0.17 at the time of the crash. The other drunken driving charge alleges that Dorsey operated a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them.