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Police still looking for person who hit and killed Warren pedestrian Saturday
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A representative from the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office has ruled the death of pedestrian Paul A. Rose, 61, of Hazelwood Avenue Southeast, an accident as a result of trauma to his head, chest and leg in a hit-and-run crash Saturday night.
Dr. Joseph Ohr, deputy coroner, said the ruling could change depending on what the investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol reveals.
Sgt. Patrick Abel of the patrol said investigators have not found the small, four-door dark-green automobile that hit Rose. It should have front-end damage, he said. Among the guesses on the type of car are a Honda, Chevrolet Cavalier or Chevrolet Cobalt.
The patrol has talked to witnesses and viewed surveillance videos and “all came up empty,” he said. “We’re hoping someone will call or see the vehicle with front-end damage,” Abel said. The phone number to the patrol is 330-898-2311.
Rose was crossing U.S. Route 422 near Rogers Avenue, not far from his home, about 9:40 p.m., the patrol said. He was pushing a grocery cart he used to collect cans he sold.
Charles Pack, a neighbor, said he observed him regularly leaving his home in the morning and coming back at night with the walker or cart. He would also see him sometimes on the front porch, but they never spoke.
“I worry about him all the time; he’s going to get hit,” Pack said.
Another neighbor, Nicholas Smith, said, “People have been saying for a long time he was going to get hit because he walked so slow, but he didn’t bother anybody. People just need to pay attention.”
Rose was taken from the scene to ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital and then transferred by helicopter to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The radio transmissions between the county 911 center and first responders such as firefighters and police suggest the response time by EMT Ambulance of Warren to the accident scene was about 16 minutes.
Enzo Cantalamessa, Warren safety-service director, said a 16-minute response is a concern, “but it’s not something unanticipated where you have multiple calls in a span of time.” The industry standard response time is within eight minutes 90 percent of the time. Cantalamessa said he spoke to EMT about it.
The call first went to MedStar Ambulance of Warren, but Med Star didn’t have an ambulance, so it transferred the call to EMT, which had two ambulances handling other calls, Cantalamessa said. EMT also called all other area ambulance services without luck, he said.
The Rose family is making plans to place donation cans in some of the gas stations and stores on Route 422, where he went on a regular basis, his daughter said. The money will be used to pay for burial expenses.