OHIO TROOPER KILLED BY BIG RIG

CANFIELD – The Ohio State Highway Patrol is deeply saddened to announce the line-of-duty death of Trooper Nicholas P. Cayton, 40, who was fatally struck while assisting a disabled vehicle on state Route 11 in Mahoning County Thursday morning.Around 11:52 a.m., Trooper Cayton responded to state Route 11 northbound, south of U.S. 224, following reports of a disabled 2024 Kenworth semi tractor-trailer stopped in the right lane.

Upon making contact with the semi driver, Nelson De Jesus Herrera Vasquez, 65, Florida, it was determined his vehicle had struck an item in the roadway.While still on scene, Trooper Cayton was sitting in his marked cruiser with his emergency overhead lights activated when a 2007 Mack Granite, driven by Ryan Rach, 35, Canfield, traveling northbound crashed into the back of his cruiser.

The cruiser then traveled forward into the back of the disabled tractor-trailer, also striking Vasquez who was standing outside of his vehicle.Trooper Cayton was pronounced dead at the scene and Vasquez was life-flighted to a nearby hospital for treatment. Rach was uninjured in the crash.

The Canfield Fire Department, Boardman Township Fire Department, Ellsworth Fire Department, Canfield Police Department, Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio Department of Transportation assisted on scene.