Teenager dies after being hit by police car

The Cortland police officer remains off work during the investigation.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- Bernice Thompson's family has seen its share of serious injury and death because of traffic accidents.
On Tuesday night, there was more sadness: Her 16-year-old granddaughter, Cassandra Thompson, was struck and killed by a city police car.
"It's a terrible tragedy," the 73-year-old Thompson lamented as she sat in the living room of her large farm-style home on Youngstown-Kingsville Road, in Johnston Township, northern Trumbull County.
"The kids loved her. She played with them," Thompson said of Cassandra's relationship with her nieces and nephews.
Cassandra lived with Thompson most of the time. Sometimes, she stayed with her father on Bushnell-Campbell Road in Kinsman Township. Her mother died in a 2003 traffic accident.
Cassandra was staying with friends on South High Street near the Circle K convenience store the night she was killed.
She was returning from the store when struck by the northbound cruiser driven by patrol officer Jason Smith, a 13-year veteran of the police department.
Was responding to call
Smith, of Cortland, had not activated the cruiser's lights or siren while responding to a report of a large number of young people involved in a fight on Stahl Avenue shortly before 11:30 p.m., the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.
The patrol explained that Smith was driving the cruiser in excess of the 35 mph speed limit when the vehicle struck the girl just north of Fowler Street, as she crossed South High Street. The cruiser had front-end damage.
Cortland Police Chief Gary Mink said Smith was answering the call along with patrol officer Tom Andrews, who was driving in another cruiser.
Neither Smith nor Andrews made it to the fight call on Stahl because of the accident. Cassandra was taken to St. Joseph Health Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
Mink responded to the accident call and requested that the state highway patrol handle the continuing investigation.
The city has a curfew requiring those age 17 and younger to be off the streets between 10:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.
Police statements
Lt. Joseph Dragovich, commander of the patrol barracks in Southington, said emergency vehicles must be driven with "due regard for safety."
Dragovich stopped short of saying whether Smith broke the law "because there is a lot of information we're still gathering."
Mink said Smith, who has commendations in his personnel file, will remain off the job. It hasn't been decided if he will be on administrative leave or use sick time or vacation while he's off duty.
"The entire police force feels terrible and wants to make sure that's understood," the chief said.
Stefan Aulizio was Cassandra's 16-year-old neighbor in Kinsman. "She was fun. Anybody who knew her liked her," he said.
"This just shocks me," Aulizio added as he stood Wednesday near the spot where Cassandra was struck.
Cassandra had attended Maplewood schools from the first through ninth grades. She started this year at Badger High School but withdrew in March. There were plans to home-school her.
"She had lost interest in school," her grandmother said. "It was hard for her to deal with the loss of her mother."
Family members in accidents
Her mother, Jackie Keeney, was killed in 2003 when her car rolled over after she lost control along state Route 46 in Bazetta Township.
Cassandra's father, Dale Thompson, has been involved in several accidents. "He wondered if he isn't accident-prone," Bernice Thompson said.
Dale Thompson's last wreck was in June while was riding a four-wheeler. Bernice Thompson said the vehicle flipped and landed on him and he nearly lost his leg.
Cassandra's brother, Curtis Thompson, was in a truck while working when it was struck near Ravenna in 2001 or 2002. He was in a coma for eight weeks, Bernice Thompson recalled.
She said she was at a funeral in Cambridge when she got word from her son that Cassandra had died. She returned home at 4 a.m. Wednesday so she could be with her family in the aftermath of yet another traffic accident.
yovich@vindy.com