Driver charged in crash that killed 4-year-old

YOUNGSTOWN — A man whose license had been suspended is in the Mahoning County jail, charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in the Friday evening crash that left a 4-year-old girl dead.

Charles George, 40, of Market Street, also was charged with failure to comply with an order or signal from a police officer and driving under suspension and was arrested.

The girl was ejected from a van driven by George when it struck a telephone pole on Mahoning Avenue and flipped over.

The accident occurred near the Western Reserve Transit Authority offices, and police closed a portion of the road for a few hours Friday.

An accident investigator said after the crash that she believes the van was involved in a hit-and-run crash near Steel Street before the fatal accident. City police said George is believed to have been trying to evade the driver from the first accident, who may have been trying to obtain a license-plate number.

Police could give no further information Saturday about the accident.

Mahoning County court records show multiple offenses against George, including a conviction for hit-and-run in 1998 and a 2007 conviction for driving under suspension, both in the county’s Boardman court.