AKRON, Ohio — A 20-year-old man has been charged for allegedly causing a deadly crash involving a tanker truck and another vehicle that happened on State Route 8 in Akron last month.
According to Akron police, the man is charged with vehicular homicide, a first-degree misdemeanor; vehicular manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor; assured clear distance, a minor-misdemeanor and failure to control, a minor-misdemeanor.
University of Akron student Jared Marcum, 18, died as a result of the crash.
The crash happened on Aug. 25.
That morning, an unknown truck had a tire blow out which then caused a chain reaction of events. According to police, debris from the tire spread out across all lanes of the highway.
Authorities say that the 20-year-old, who was driving a Honda, swerved left, then right and struck Marcum's Hyundai. In turn, that caused the Hyundai to hit a tanker truck. When the tanker veered off the road, Marcum's car was dragged along with it.
Moments later, the tanker ignited and stopped on the side of the road. According to police, Marcum was trapped in his car and died as a result of the crash. Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles.
The 20-year-old Honda driver and the tanker truck driver were not injured in the crash.
The 20-year-old has an arraignment scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 22.
Editor's note: A previously version of this story incorrectly stated that debris caused from a blown out tire was from the tanker truck. This story has been updated with correct information.
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