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MINGO JUNCTION -- Five teens ages 13 to 17 were injured early Monday after the Ford Ranger they were in went over a guardrail at the intersection of Logan Avenue and Commerce Street, careened down an embankment and caught fire.
Three of the youths were flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Robert Bodo said. Three of the teens were believed to be riding in the bed of the truck when the driver lost control.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies reported one of the juveniles was located "in the brush injured, below the truck." Another was treated at the scene by Mingo Junction EMS, they said, adding witnesses said the three who left the scene "looked to be hurt" and a second vehicle was behind the truck at the time it crashed.
Steubenville police, meanwhile, also are looking into possible ties to reports of "somebody attempting to break into houses or banging on doors" in the early morning hours.
"We know the city had a couple calls of an incident like that matched the description of vehicle that wrecked," Bodo said. "We've been in contact with the city."
Bodo said an OSHP accident reconstruction team from Cambridge was called in to "try to determine what caused the vehicle to go over the embankment at such a high rate of speed."
"There wasn't much (left), we couldn't (even) find the license plate on it, it burned up," Bodo said. "We believe the (juveniles) in the bed of the truck were ejected, (they had) no type of safety equipment."
He said the call came in at 2:27 a.m. and the vehicle "was traveling at a high rate of speed, we just don't know why." He said troopers are "still looking to see if another vehicle was involved."
"Three individuals left the scene and we had to locate them later," he said. "One of the ones who was actually (flown) to Pittsburgh once he made it to the hospital. I believe all three juveniles who were (flown to Pittsburgh) are in stable condition, the last we checked. The two who remained at Trinity obviously (had) non-life-threatening injuries."
The driver is believed to be 17, he said.