Speeding car slams into Wick Avenue church; driver killed

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A speeding stolen car being chased by police hit and broke the corner of a church retaining wall, went airborne for 105 feet across the church lawn and crashed into the Wick Avenue landmark early Sunday morning, killing its young female driver.

A written police report put the speed of the car at more than 50 mph, but Rye Dalton, treasurer of First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave., which the car hit, said police at the scene estimated the speed of the car at 80 to 100 mph.

The identity of the driver was not available late Sunday.

Police responded shortly after midnight Saturday to a reported break-in and car theft at Jordan’s Auto Sales, a used car dealership at 839 Wick Ave.

Police saw the black, four-door 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer leave the used car lot, jump a curb, and speed southbound on Wick Avenue, without its headlights or taillights shining, according to Patrolman Arthur Carter, who wrote the police report.

With city police in pursuit, the driver, estimated by police to be between 18 and 20 years old, lost control near Lincoln Avenue and swerved several times before crashing into the church two blocks south, directly beneath its clock and steeple.

The car was embedded into the north side of the tower, and the impact broke a south-facing tower window. National Fire Repair boarded up the north window area, where the impact occurred, and the south window early Sunday morning.

Read the full story, complete with photos of the damaged church, Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.