TRUMBULL COUNTY Officials identify dead man

The man's car was found at a friend's house nearby.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- When Steven Barnhart Jr. didn't show up for work at Mercury Plastics, his family started to worry. After they saw news reports of an unidentified man found dead behind the wheel of a 40-ton construction vehicle, they started to piece things together.
"They called us, and we met with them and started to put everything together," said Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere.
Barnhart, 20, of Bate Street, Newton Falls, was identified with photographs by his mother and grandfather Monday, Altiere said. He was found Sunday morning behind the wheel of a Volvo earth mover in a cornfield on Newton Falls-Bailey Road in Newton Township.
Altiere said Barnhart had no identification on him when he was found.
Autopsy results
Autopsy results show Barnhart died of blunt force trauma to the head suffered when the vehicle went off the side of the road and over a ditch, Altiere said.
Authorities believe Barnhart entered property owned by Lafarge North America, also on Newton Falls-Bailey Road, got into the vehicle being used for construction of a landfill and drove it through a steel gate onto the road before losing control of the truck less than a mile down the road.
Altiere said there were no signs of foul play and Barnhart's injuries were consistent with the traffic accident. Altiere said the impact to the truck as it crossed the culvert was enough to knock loose a fire extinguisher in the cab and blow out the driver's side and passenger's side windows.
"I saw how much that truck moved when it was being pulled from the field slowly," Altiere said. "I can't imagine what was happening when it was moving as much as 30 miles an hour."
The accident took place around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, reports said. Construction crews left Lafarge as late as 10 p.m. Saturday, company officials said.
Police got calls
Police starting receiving calls from neighbors around 8 a.m. Sunday to complain about the lights and noise from the truck, which was still running.
Altiere said officials are still unclear how Barnhart gained entry to the property and whether he was alone when he drove off in the truck. His car was found at a nearby friend's house, though Altiere declined to specify where.
"We are still following up on that end of the investigation," he said. "He had to get there somehow."
He noted authorities are still waiting on toxicology reports to determine if there were drugs or alcohol in Barnhart's system.
slshaulis@vindy.com