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At hearing, aunt holds photo of niece who died in Fowler accident
trumbull county
By Ed Runyan
CORTLAND
Judy Tomayko, aunt of Brittany Szwedko of Cortland, said she sat in Central District Court on Monday morning holding a photo of Brittany during a preliminary hearing for Russell Lauer III as a reminder of “the impact of what he’s done.”
Lauer is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident and a driving-lane violation in the death of Szwedko. He’s accused of driving his car off the road Feb. 27 and hitting Szwedko, who died three days later.
Lauer, 43, of Cortland waived his right to force prosecutors to establish probable cause, and Judge Thomas Campbell forwarded the case to a Trumbull County grand jury for indictment.
Lauer spent most of the hearing with his head hanging low as he sat and stood before the judge, who continued Lauer’s $215,000 bond. Lauer remains in the county jail and was brought to the court in person for this hearing.
Szwedko, 27, died after being struck along Ridge Road in Fowler Towship while running. She was training for Sunday’s Mill Creek Distance Classic half marathon and 5K. Members of her family ran in the event to honor her.
Lauer was arrested several miles from the accident scene after a couple and their daughter that had witnessed the accident followed Lauer’s car and detained him until police arrived.
“We want people to know the impact of what he’s done – all of the lives, the friends, family, all of the people,” Tomayko said of the high school graduation photos she and an uncle of Brittany’s, Joe Szwedko, were holding.
Brittany Szwedko was a public-relations associate at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library and a 2006 graduate of Lakeview High School.
Also sitting with Tomayko, and Joe Szwedko and his wife, was Faith Bryant, whose husband R.J. Bryant went to great lengths to ensure that Lauer did not get away after the accident – even physically assaulting Lauer.
After Monday’s hearing, Tomayko called R.J. Bryant the Szwedko family’s “hero.”
Faith, R.J. and their daughter were traveling on Ridge Road at the time of the 12:30 p.m. accident and saw Lauer’s car “swerving and leaving the roadway” before it struck Szwedko.
The Bryants stopped to help Szwedko, but Lauer’s Trail Blazer kept going, so R.J. flagged down another motorist to call 911 and remain with Szwedko while the Bryants followed Lauer.
R.J. Bryant got Lauer to stop several miles away at Ridge Road and Bradley Brownlee Road, but Lauer refused to cooperate and tried several times to get his car moving again.
To get him to stop, R.J. Bryant finally struck Lauer in the face twice while getting two sets of keys from him. R.J. was on his cellphone talking to a 911 operator the whole time he was trying to subdue Lauer.
“A guy that’s drunk or something – I had to chase him down and stop him and take his keys,” he told the 911 operator. “He just hit this lady and killed her right in front of me.”
R.J. could be heard talking to Lauer, asking him his first name for the dispatcher and then telling Lauer, “You know you were off the road” and, “You’re not sorry. You’re drunk or [explective] up.” A few times, R.J. told Lauer to “shut up.”
The dispatcher asked R.J. Bryant to try to maintain calm until police arrived. “He’s trying to get out and stuff and I am not letting him get out,” R.J. said. “He ran from me for about three miles.”
When asked Monday what drove her husband to go to such great lengths to hold Lauer for police, Faith Bryant said, “He was driven off of adrenalin and morals and conscience.”