Dead man in fatal traffic stop collision ID’d

One man was killed and three people were seriously hurt Saturday, May 7, in the collision of two vehicles fleeing separate attempted traffic stops.

  • Fatality is Tyler Cross, 22, of Dayton
  • One vehicle was stolen, the other rented
  • Heroin found in both vehicles
  • Handgun found in rental car

UPDATE @ 8:40 p.m. (May 9): Tyler Cross, 22, of Dayton, is the fatality from Saturday's collision of two vehicles fleeing separate attempted traffic stops.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office released the name moments ago, an official with that office saying the status regarding manner and cause of death are pending.

UPDATE @ 4:51 p.m. (May 8)

According to the Dayton police report, two men involved in the crash at Ruth and Jerome avenues Saturday have been ordered to court to answer to various charges.

Nearly 26 grams of heroin was found in the gray Chrysler that was heavily damaged in the fatal crash, according to the report.

Benny Jewett Jr. IV, 21, was issued a summons to court for suspicion of drug possession and Steven Swain, 27, was issued a summons to court for suspicion of various offenses, including failure to comply with an order or signal from a police officer; weapons violations for a handgun found in the vehicle; and drug possession, according to the report.

Further information has not been released, including the identity of the male passenger in the Toyota who was killed.

UPDATE @ 9 p.m.

The identity of the man killed in the crash late this morning will not likely be released until Monday so investigators can look at dental records, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

Dayton police tonight did not have any updates on the crash investigation, and did not release the names of the three people in their 20s who were injured.

UPDATE @ 2:44 p.m.

Dayton Maj. Matt Carper said out of concern for public safety, officers did not pursue either vehicle after they sped away from separate, attempted traffic stops. The stops were attempted just prior to the fatal crash at Ruth and Jerome avenues, which crews responded to shortly after 11:30 a.m. today.

The first attempted traffic stop was of a silver Toyota reported stolen out of Harrison Twp.

Carper said the Toyota nearly struck a police cruiser. The officer tried to stop the vehicle but it sped away and the officer did not pursue.

Around the same time in a separate incident, police attempted to stop a gray Chrysler for minor traffic violations and it sped away. Carper said the officer did not pursue the Chrysler, which was a rental car with New York license plates.

The two cars collided when the Chrysler, heading north on Ruth Avenue, T-boned the silver Toyota, which was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Jerome Avenue, Carper said.

The impact was so great the engine in the Toyota was dislodged from the engine compartment. The engine was visible at the crash scene sitting by itself on the roadway.

The passenger in the silver Toyota, a male in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Toyota driver and the two occupants in the gray Chrysler, all in their 20s, were seriously hurt but are in stable condition, Carper said.

A handgun was found in the Chrysler and heroin was found in both vehicles, Carper said.

Police remain at the scene along with crime scene investigators and crash reconstructionists. The investigation will determine culpability and what criminal charges may be filed.

Carper said the two vehicles do not appear to be connected.

“It’s awfully coincidental that there was heroin in both cars that were involved in the traffic crash,” he said. “It’s absolutely outrageous behavior to be driving like that in a residential area.”

UPDATE @ 2:10 p.m.

One witness tells us police were on scene immediately after he heard a loud bang in his house.

Matthew Waddell said he was in his home near the intersection of Ruth and Jerome avenues when he heard a loud bang.

At first he thought it might be the garbage pick-up, but when he went outside he saw two vehicles smashed up against a pole. He said Dayton police cruisers were already on scene when he walked outside after hearing the crash.

Dayton police continue to investigate the scene of what appears to be a two-vehicle crash that has resulted in at least one fatality.

Three people were initially reported entrapped after the crash was reported around 11:30 a.m., according to the call log at the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center.

Three medics were called to the scene and firefighters worked to extricate at least one person from one of two damaged vehicles.

An investigator from the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office arrived on scene.

Police have not issued a statement about what happened. The intersection continues to be blocked to traffic.

UPDATE @ 12:57 p.m.

The crash appears to have resulted in a fatal injury as an investigator with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has arrived on scene.

UPDATE @ 12:14 p.m.

Three people were initally reported as entrapped in a vehicle that traveled up an embankment and was heavily damaged at Ruth and Jerome avenues in Dayton.

Firefighters worked to extricate at least one person from the wrecked vehicle. That person was taken to a medic on scene and transported.

We continue to work to gather details on this developing story.

FIRST REPORT

Multiple medics have been called to a crash at Ruth and Jerome avenues in Dayton.

Crews were called to the scene shortly after 11:30 a.m.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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