43
Austintown man killed in crash after police pursuit
By Denise Dick
NEW Springfield
The 24-year-old Austintown man killed in a Friday morning crash was pursued by police shortly before the crash.
Daniel Khawli died in the one-car crash at the Five Points intersection about 6:15 a.m., and a preliminary investigation points to suicide as the root cause, said forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Ohr, Mahoning County deputy coroner.
Ohr said that Khawli was at his father’s Poland residence Friday morning, scrawled a note on the garage floor and left with his car. Khawli was pronounced dead at the crash site, and a large knife was found in the car, Ohr added.
“When I examined his remains today, there clearly is a cut on his wrist and a couple of other cuts on that same arm and blood was coming from those,” he said. “Certainly, he did indeed have injuries from the car accident, ultimately that killed him, and it seems fairly clear what his intent was.”
Ohr said he is not sure he’ll be able to determine if Khawli purposely crashed his car or if he lost consciousness because of the cuts and drifted through the intersection.
“The root of all of this is the suicidal intent,” he said.
A local Help Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist people in crisis, including those who might hurt themselves. The hotline number is 330-747-2696 or 211.
The coroner’s office and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are continuing to investigate the crash.
Vincent D’Egidio, New Middletown police chief, said one of his officers saw Khawli speeding on state Route 170 Friday morning. The car also was missing a taillight.
The officer followed, attempting to stop Khawli, who turned onto Middletown Road and accelerated up the hill, the chief said.
Khawli ran several stop signs and hit speeds that the officer estimated topped 100 miles per hour. The speed limit on Middletown Road ranges between 35 mph and 45 mph.
“The officer just kept him in sight, kept a visual on him,” D’Egidio said.
Matt Mohn, Springfield Township police chief, said one of his officers saw Khawli run a stop sign and was preparing to follow when he saw the village officer pursuing Khawli.
The village officer lost sight of the vehicle as it rounded a bend near Evans Lake and called off the pursuit, broadcasting the vehicle description to surrounding departments.
A short time later, the officer heard of the crash on the radio, D’Egidio said.
At the time of the crash, Khawli was traveling north on North Lima Road when he traveled off the right side of the road, striking a utility pole, according to a news release from the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The vehicle then overturned and traveled across the intersection, striking the New Life Assembly of God Church sign where it came to a rest. The church is on the north side of Western Reserve Road at Springfield Road in Poland Township.
The crash knocked out power to 112 customers in parts of Poland and North Lima, said David Turner, Mahoning and Columbiana County area manager for First Energy. Power was restored shortly after 8 a.m.
— Vindicator reporter Ashley Luthern contributed to this report.