SWANTON, Ohio — On Monday afternoon, the Ohio State Highway Patrol released its reports from the series of crashes on the Ohio Turnpike that resulted in four deaths on Aug. 15.
The 24 pages of reports show that 13 different vehicles were involved in three different crashes. The first happened at 5:32 a.m., just before the Exit 49 eastbound turnpike plaza. In that crash, the report indicates that Thupten Choedon, 58, of Prior Lake, Minn., was driving and slowed just before the entrance to the plaza.
She was hit from behind by a commercial vehicle driven by Hashim Hall, 43, of Indian Head Park, Ill. After impact, Hall’s vehicle struck a cement median barrier and overturned, spilling hazardous material. Choedon’s vehicle struck the median barrier, overturned and went off the right side of the road. Her husband and son were ejected from the vehicle and killed. A daughter suffered serious injuries.
The second accident occurred at 5:54 a.m. and involved six different vehicles. A tractor-trailer driven by an unidentified driver from Evergreen Freight LLC was driving in the middle lane when it hit another semi that had slowed or stopped for the initial crash. The second semi then hit a third commercial vehicle. The first vehicle then hit the third vehicle, along with two other semi-trucks. A Nissan Rogue then collided with the back of the crash. The driver of the first vehicle was killed and has yet to be identified. The cab of his vehicle was engulfed in flames, according to someone with knowledge of the incident.
The third series of crashes occurred in the westbound lanes as traffic was stopped to allow first responders to reach the scene of the first two incidents. In the westbound incident, Istam Naimov, 24, of Philadelphia, was driving a commercial vehicle and ran into the back of a pickup, then two passenger vehicles, and finally a second semi.
Ajla Vukovic, 20, of Utica, N.Y., was in the backseat of the second passenger vehicle – a Honda Passport – and was killed. Naimov has been charged in her death.
After the accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of more than a dozen agents to look into the accidents. Its report was scheduled to be released within 30 days of the accident, but a spokesperson indicated Monday morning that it would likely not be released this week.
Initial reports from the scene indicated that fog could have been a factor in the crashes, but the OSHP reports describe the conditions as dark, but clear.
The scene of the first crash was near the entrance to a new turnpike plaza in Swanton Township. 11 Investigates has done multiple stories on driver confusion related to that plaza. OSHP reports make no mention of driver confusion, only that Choedon was in the right lane when she slowed her vehicle and was hit from behind.