OSHP names Malvasi as driver in fatal Canfield crash

Staff report

CANFIELD

The Ohio State Highway Patrol identified Michael Malvasi as the driver in the fatal November crash that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Ryan Lanzo.

The OSHP had not previously said whether Malvasi, 27, of Canfield or Lanzo was driving at the time of the accident.

A passerby called 911 about 3 a.m. Nov. 18 and told the dispatcher she saw two vehicles in a yard off Shields Road and someone lying on the ground.

When police arrived, they found an unoccupied SUV that was registered to Malvasi and no other car.

Malvasi never called 911, investigators said.

Officers later determined that a relative of Malvasi’s, now identified by the patrol as Malvasi’s father, dropped Lanzo off at an urgent-care facility in Austintown.

Malvasi failed to negotiate a turn, went off the right side of the road and hit a tree, overturning his car, investigators said.

An OSHP spokesman said it’s too early to say whether Malvasi will face charges, and once the report is complete they will meet with the prosecutor and go from there.

A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Malvasi in February on charges of trafficking in hashish and possession of hashish that resulted from an August raid at Malvasi’s Timber Run Drive home in Canfield.

Canfield detectives said they recovered a large amount of marijuana at the time of the raid.

That case remains open in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.