Highway patrol: Too soon to say what caused fatal crash

Staff report

WARREN

A reconstructionist with the Ohio State Highway Patrol is continuing to study the cause of the crash Saturday morning that killed the revered scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 101.

Lt. Brian Holt, commander of the Southington Post, said the patrol has the 1999 GMC Suburban involved in the crash and is “knee deep” in the investigation.

He said it’s too soon to discuss the reason the right, rear tire failed, causing the Suburban to slide off the left side of state Route 11 just north of state Route 87 and overturn.

The driver, longtime scoutmaster James Potjunas, 60, of Vienna, was pronounced dead at the scene. Everyone in the vehicle was wearing a seat belt.

“He lived his life for those kids and the Scouts, and he did it for 37 years, since 1980,” Ned Gold, longtime Scouts leader, said of Potjunas.

On Sunday, a private memorial was held at the Scouts’ new building next to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church on North Road to remember Potjunas and provide counseling and assistance to those affected by the tragedy.

The Boy Scouts Troop 101 Scout Center, which was completed this spring, is named in Potjunas’ honor.

Five Boy Scouts in the vehicle and Potjunas’ wife, Sandra Potjunas, 61, were all taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries Saturday.

Holt said he believes all the passengers have been released from the hospital.

The seven were part of a group headed to a park about 2 Ω hours north of Toronto, Ontario, for a camping trip on the shores of Whitefish Lake.

The Scouts met Friday night at the scout center to pack all of the gear for the trip.

They left at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The crash took place about 7:15 a.m. They were scheduled to arrive at their destination at 6 p.m. Saturday.