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HAMILTON — Excessive speed may have led to the deaths of three young men in a single-vehicle accident Monday in Lindenwald, police said.
The driver, Cody Mazuk, 19, of Ross Twp., and two passengers, Jeremiah Fischer, 18, of Fairfield and Christopher Drummond, 19, also of Ross Twp., died as a result of their injuries from the crash, according to Hamilton police Traffic Commander Lt. John Nethers.
The accident is this year’s second fatality crash in Hamilton and the eighth in Butler County, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Police said the three men were traveling south on River Road around 2 p.m. Monday near the Hooven Avenue intersection when Mazuk, driving a 1993 Toyota Camry, attempted to pass other southbound traffic. The vehicle then went off the left side of the road in a possible attempt to avoid northbound traffic, according to Nethers.
The vehicle struck a rock, a tree and another rock before going airborne and striking a second tree, Nethers said.
“This kind of thing is sad and tragic,” Hamilton police Sgt. Steve Henderson said. “It was kind of an odd time for this kind of accident.”
Mazuk and Fischer were pronounced dead at the scene. Drummond was flown to University Hospital, and died in transit, said his grandmother Deborah Johnson, 58, of Colerain Twp.
The estimated speed at the time of the crash was 60 mph, according to the Hamilton traffic report.
Henderson said police do not know why the Camry was traveling at such a high rate of speed or where they were headed.
“It’s one of those things that we might never know,” Henderson said.
The posted speed limit on the stretch of road is 35 mph and it is a no-passing zone, officer Kristy Collins said. There have been a few complaints of speeding in that area but not excessive, according to Collins.
Eyewitness Dallas Rutherford, 16, said he saw the Camry barrelling down River Road at speeds of up to 70 mph and saw it weave into northbound traffic, almost striking a car before smashing into a tree.
“I heard a car accelerate and swerve around a sport-utility vehicle and then almost hit another car turning from Chase Avenue,” Rutherford said. “That driver got lucky.”
Tom Schindler, who lives at the intersection of the crash site, said he was power washing his home when heard an explosion after the Camry struck a large Sycamore tree on his property. When he saw an engine fire had started, he grabbed his garden hose to extinguish it, he said.
“I couldn’t get anyone out or help, but the fire department was able to get one person out of the back seat,” said Schindler. “I just couldn’t get to them (the passenger and driver).
“I feel so sorry for the families, I have minimal damage, but they’ve lost precious lives,” he said.
Another neighbor, Lee, Olesen, said all he heard was a loud “bang” and a car “piled up on a tree.”
“The accident crushed the whole front end of the car and there was smoke and fire coming from the engine,” Olesen said.
Mazuk and Drummond were 2010 Ross High School graduates, said Johnson. Mazuk also had just completed his first year at Miami University Hamilton.
“They were both good students,” said Ross High School Assistant Principal Rick Pate. “Cody was on the varsity golf team, which were division champs in his senior year, and Chris (Drummond) was part of our tech prep program and was involved in the robotics competitions.
“We’re sad to hear of the situation and our hearts go out to their families. We’ll do whatever we can to help them get through this tough time.”
Johnson said she was waiting for a ride to meet Drummond and his mom at a barbecue when she received the news from a Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy.
“He had a big, loving heart,” Johnson said of her grandson, who was saving his money from his job at Meijer in Hamilton. “What an awesome young man — he was one of those teenagers you don’t find very often.
“Whenever he walked in the front door, he would give his family a hug and kiss on the cheek. That was the kind of man my grandson was.”
Fischer was a 2010 Fairfield High School graduate who ran the sound system at Grace Baptist Church in Mason, said family friend Kim Watson.
“He was a great kid and one of those kids that loved to have fun and if he saw something that needed to be done, he just did it,” Watson said.
Fischer is survived by his parents, Regina and Kevin Fischer, as well as two younger siblings — a brother and a sister, said Watson. She said Fischer wanted to enter a career that involved animals, perhaps as a veterinary technician.
2011 fatal crashes in Butler County
This is the second fatal accident so far this year for the Hamilton Police Department, Sgt. Steve Henderson confirmed Tuesday.
The first was a head-on collision at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Linden Street, killing 43-year-old Jennifer Bowling on April 3.
The driver, Julio Cesar Olvera-Mejia, 23, of the 400 block of North Fifth Street, pleaded guilty June 21 to vehicular manslaughter, a second-degree misdemeanor, and going left of center, a minor misdemeanor.
He was sentenced by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Charles Pater to 90 days in the Butler County Jail, a $900 fine and a two-year license suspension. He has an Aug. 24 trial for a third charge of failure to stop after an accident, which is a felony. Police said alcohol was involved.
In Middletown, there was one fatal accident in February when a pedestrian was struck and killed while crossing Ohio 122, said Middletown police records supervisor Jennifer Minor.
In that incident, Laura Fisher, of Saxonburg, Pa., was hit by a maroon 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by 58-year-old Lindy Peterson, of Middletown, while attempting to cross Roosevelt Boulevard, near Towne Boulevard at 12:45 a.m. Feb. 23, police said.
Peterson had a green light when heading eastbound on Roosevelt Boulevard and struck Fisher, who died at the scene, as she stepped into the roadway outside of a crosswalk, according to the police report.
Up until Monday’s triple-fatal crash, there were five other fatal accidents in Butler County, according to the highway patrol.
• On May 23, Curtis S. Daniels, 23, of Trenton, was killed in a head-on crash along Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Twp.
• On April 21, Darrell E. “Rocky” Deem Jr., 35, of West Elkton, was killed after a pickup truck went left of center and struck his vehicle head-on on Ohio 122 in Madison Twp.
• On April 18, Tarrista T. Huff, of Okeana, a 20-year-old Ross grad and Miami Hamilton student, was killed in a fiery two-vehicle crash along Ohio 126 in Ross Twp.
• On Jan. 22, Aaron Thompson, 25, of Cincinnati, was killed while standing outside a box truck when he was struck by a pickup along LeSourdsville-West Chester Road in West Chester Twp.
• On Jan. 4, a father of three died when his vehicle rolled over after driving off the right side of the road. Garry D. Deaton Jr., 42, of Gratis-Jacksonburg Road, Somerville, was killed at about 11 p.m. after he lost control of his 2002 Dodge Dakota in the 4800 block of Jacksonburg Road.
According to the highway patrol, there were 29 fatal crashes in Butler County in 2010 and 24 in 2009.
Staff Writer
Richard O Jones
contributed to this report.
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