Trish Bennett, Editor
ASHVILLE – Speed is suspected to be a contributing factor in a crash that sent three Circleville teens to the hospital Monday night after a one-car crash on Cromley Road near Ashville.
Morgan Chasteen, 16, Anthony Giffin, 16, and Troy Newman, 15, all were airlifted to Columbus hospitals following the crash at Cromley Road and Cornstalk Avenue about 10:54 p.m. Monday, according to Deputy Phil Relli, Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
According to reports, Chasteen was driving a 2014 Ford Taurus that had earlier been reported by his father as stolen in Circleville when the crash occurred.
Relli said Chasteen was traveling northbound on Cromley Road when he drove off the west side of the roadway and struck two trees head-on. The vehicle then rotated and struck a third tree with a side impact and finally came to a stop.
Chasteen was transported to Berger Hospital and then airlifted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus by Air Evac, Relli said.
Passengers Giffin and Newman were entrapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated by rescue crews. They were both airlifted from the scene by MedFlight, Relli said, with Giffin taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Newman to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Relli said their conditions had not yet been updated late Tuesday afternoon.
Speed is definitely considered a factor in the crash, Relli said, but the accident remains under investigation.
In addition to the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office, rescue crews from Harrison Township, Circleville, Pickaway Township and Scioto Township all assisted at the scene, along with members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
