Man accused in fatal West Chester crash indicted on more charges

Credit: kali9

Credit: kali9

A Cincinnati man charged with aggravated vehicular homicide for a fatal crash last week is facing more charges handed down by a Butler County grand jury.

Samuel Ankrah, 38, was taken into custody after the crash that happened about 1:35 a.m. Sept. 10 on Ohio 747 near Duff Drive. He was initially charged with impaired driving, hit skip/leaving the scene of an accident and not maintaining assured clear in addition to aggravated vehicular homicide.

On Friday he was indicted for aggravated vehicular homicide, alleging he did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the incident, aggravated vehicular assault, failure to stop after an accident, all felonies and operating a vehicle under the influence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

According to West Chester Police, Ankrah was driving a Mazda southbound on Ohio 747 when he struck a Harley Davidson motorcycle in the rear-end collision.

West Chester Police said in court documents that Ankrah “admitted to officers that he consumed alcoholic beverages” before the crash.

Jessica Taleff, 27, a passenger on the motorcycle died at the scene. The Butler County Coroner’s Office said Taleff died of multiple traumatic injuries.

Taleff’s husband, Galen, was driving the motorcycle and was injured in the crash. Jessica Taleff leaves behind three young children.

Ankrah, is being held in the county jail in lieu of $200,000 bond set in Butler County Area III Court. He was scheduled to to back in area court on Tuesday, but because of the direct indictment that hearing will not happen.

The case is assigned to Butler County Common Pleas Judge Dan Haughey but an arraignment date on the indicted charges has not yet been set.

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