Driver in fatal crash is identified

NILES – Authorities have identified the driver in a March 7 fatal traffic accident as Michael A. Diceglie, 21, of Niles. A passenger in the car he was driving, Joseph D. Nave, 20, also of Niles, was killed.

Police Chief Bruce Simeone said Tuesday that the car Diceglie was driving at high speed was westbound on Fifth Avenue, went off the left side of the roadway and struck two trees. Both the driver and passenger were ejected and the car caught fire. Nave died at the scene and Diceglie was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center. He remains in a coma.

City police working with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office determined that Diceglie was the driver and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.209. The legal limit in Ohio is 0.08. Toxicology results for Nave are pending. No charges have been filed, the chief said, because investigators have been unable to interview Diceglie because of his physical condition.