This accident happened about 3 months ago a mile from my house:
Quote:
The Mentor man who drove into the third floor of an apartment building in Willowick was legally drunk at the time of the crash, according to the coroner’s report.
Willowick Police Chief Michael Lazor said Carmen Ritacco, 26, had a blood-alcohol level of .147 on April 21 when he used a mound outside of Shoregate Towers as a ramp and drove into the side of the apartment building.
He died immediately.
Anyone with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08 is considered too drunk to drive. However, the chief noted that .147 is usually not so intoxicated to be completely incoherent. Lazor added that one should not assume Ritacco drove into the building strictly because he had been drinking.
“I really don’t know what the guy was thinking,” Lazor said. “I wish I did, for peace of mind for his family.”
Lazor said Ritacco’s intentions will likely never be known.
Ritacco was driving very quickly that morning on Vine Street. Police guessed that he was traveling about 92 mph when he drove off the road just north of Lake Shore Boulevard.
Ritacco’s Chevrolet Malibu hit a mound at just the right angle to serve as a ramp and launch itself through the air.
The Malibu traveled about 173 feet before it bounced off the building and landed in the east parking lot. The collision crushed the car and left a visible indentation in the apartment building.
The apartment that was struck had damage in the bathroom. No one was living in it, and no other people were hurt in the apartment building or the parking lot.
Some occupants of the apartment building compared the loud bang to a gun, cannon or even a bomb.
The Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office performed Ritacco’s autopsy. They found no other drugs in his blood besides the alcohol.
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Quote:
In comic strips the person on the left always speaks first. - George Carlin
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