SUV in Deadly Ohio Crash Reported Stolen
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Joseph Devenney/Getty Images(WARREN, Ohio) — A speeding SUV that hit a guardrail, flipped over and landed upside down in a pond Sunday morning, killing six teenagers, was stolen, according to the vehicle’s owner.
The owner filed a stolen-car report with police on Monday, police said. It was unclear where the teens got the vehicle or whether they knew it was stolen.
Two boys survived the crash in Warren, Ohio, including Brian Henry, who described the crash and how he survived it to ABC News affiliate WYTV.
Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, were the only survivors of the crash that killed six of their friends, ranging in age from 14 to 19.
Henry told WYTV that he smacked his head on the dashboard and lost consciousness during the crash. It was the cold water that woke him up.
“First thing I thought was that I just wanted to give up,” Henry told WYTV. “I was like, I can’t go out like that.”
Henry tried to smash his way out of the car.
“It took me six or seven times to bust the window,” he said.
But when he tried to swim out, he found himself entangled with seatbelts. He had to take off his shoes and pants in order to escape, Henry said.
As the SUV filled with water, Henry and Lewis sprinted a quarter of a mile to the nearest residence so they could call 911.
“I wasn’t thinking about myself,” Henry said. “I was thinking about the other lives that were left behind to get them help. I didn’t care if I was busted up. I just had to get help there first.”
The eight teens had packed into a Honda Passport, which seats five people, and some were likely not wearing seatbelts, authorities said.
It was the deadliest wreck in the history of Trumbull County, located in northeastern Ohio, and the worst traffic accident in the state in at least the past three years, Lt. Brian Holt of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said on Monday.
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