Driver formally charged for crash that killed 4 men near Dayton airport

The driver investigators say caused a crash that killed four men and seriously injured another man near the Dayton International Airport has been formally charged.

Clayton Hughes, 26, of Blacklick, Ohio, was indicted Wednesday by a Montgomery County grand jury on eight counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count each of vehicular assault, aggravated vehicular assault, failure to stop after an accident, and OVI, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 4 dead, 2 injured after car driving away from crash is involved in 2nd crash

As News Center 7 previously reported, the crash happened near the intersection of Boeing Drive and Terminal Drive on April 1.

Before the crash, multiple police departments received calls about a reckless driver on Interstate 70 near the airport exit. The driver, identified as Hughes, allegedly rear-ended a Nissan pick-up truck and kept driving. The driver of that truck then followed Hughes as he got off the interstate at Dayton International Airport Access Road.

Hughes’ Volvo continued to drive at a high rate of speed, with prosecutors saying speeds reached near 90 mph at one point.

>> PHOTOS: 4 dead, 2 injured after crash near Dayton International Airport

Hughes’ Volvo then T-boned a Chrysler Pacifica at the intersection of Boeing Drive and Terminal Drive. Four men inside the Volvo, Larry Edwards, 77, of Tipp City, Richard Coatney, 77, of Piqua, Richard Tumbell, 67, of Lewisburg, and Stephen Cassel, 72, of Clayton, were all killed in the crash.

A fifth occupant of the Chrysler was seriously injured in the crash.

An investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol showed that Hughes was also allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, the prosecutor’s office reported.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Hughes.