LAGRANGE TWP. — A minivan packed with teenagers was broadsided Thursday by a tractor-trailer on state Route 301, sending three to a Cleveland trauma center.

The minivan’s 17-year-old driver, Lauren Bigler of Columbia Township, apparently pulled into the northbound truck’s path after initially stopping for a stop sign on Parsons Road, according Lt. Glenn Peterson, commander of the Elyria post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Bigler and passenger Katie O’Brien, of Columbia Township, were flown to MetroHealth Medical Center. Another passenger, Tara Gorman, 15, of Columbia Station, initially was taken to EMH Regional Medical Center and was later flown to MetroHealth.

All three were listed as critical Thursday afternoon. A nursing supervisor said at 11 p.m. that O’Brien was in extremely critical condition but Bigler had been upgraded to good and Gorman had been released.

BRUCE BISHOP / CHRONICLE

A paramedic works on a crash victim Thursday.

Two others in the minivan, passengers Craig Lupinski, 16, of LaGrange, and Kateland Kacic, 15, of Wellington, received minor injuries and were treated and released from EMH.

Peterson said the semi likely was traveling about 55 mph — the posted speed limit for Route 301 — when it struck the minivan. He said he did not know where the teenagers were heading.

The truck’s driver, 42-year-old Timothy Ingraham, of West Salem, was visibly shaken after the crash, but not injured. Ingraham was transporting 24 tons of sand when the accident occurred.

“I tried not to hit them,” he said, declining to comment further.

The impact crushed the passenger side of the minivan, and the minivan remained in front of the semi as both traveled about 500 feet past the intersection through the front yards of two homes.

Holly Linden said she heard the crash from inside her home and looked out to see the minivan plow through her fence and slide to a halt.

She ran to help, she said, but there was little she could do.

“I tried to make sure they didn’t move until help arrived,” Linden said. “Some of them were talking, but they didn’t know what
happened — they couldn’t remember anything.”

Inside the minivan, blood lined the rear passenger door, and shards of glass had sprinkled in the grass where the long troughs of muddy tire tracks ended.

Peterson said although a minor rear-end accident occurred at the same intersection a week ago, it has been accident-free since 2007.

The recent Ohio driving law that went into effect in April 2007 that limits the number of teens in the same vehicle applies only to 16-year-old drivers. Bigler is 17.

Contact Stephen Szucs at 329-7129 or sszucs@chroniclet.com.

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