Amherst,OH : Trial begins for driver in fatal Amherst Township crash on January, Wednesday 24th 2018

Prosecutors say Matthew Glaze was under the influence of cocaine and heroin when he drove his 2002 Chevrolet Suburban into the crowded intersection of state Routes 113 and 58, killing two Lorain women.

Glaze, 44, of Elyria, is on trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court for the July 2, 2016 crash in Amherst Township that took the lives of Maria Maldonado, and Iris Candelario, both 58, and injured two others.

Glaze, an unemployed industrial roofer, is charged with four counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of OVI, two counts of possession of drugs, two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, four counts of vehicular assault and single counts of tampering with evidence, driving under suspension and drug paraphernalia.

In his Jan. 24 opening statement, Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Cillo told the jury of eight women and six men the state would prove it was Glaze’s decision to drive under the influence and with a suspended license that led to Maldonado’s and Candelario’s deaths.


Cillo said Candelario and Maldonado and another friend were driving a Chevrolet Cruze on their way to Ashland when they stopped at the intersection of routes 113 and 58.

At that time, Glaze was barreling toward the intersection slumped over the steering wheel of his SUV before “demolishing” the Cruze, he said.

“(The Cruze) is driven directly into the van in front of it and it is pushed so far it ends up in the intersection,” Cillo said. “The van ends up past the intersection and (Glaze’s) car is even further along. The car was destroyed.”

Cillo said Candelario and Maldonado were trapped in the Cruze as witnesses left their cars and tried to help.

One of those witnesses heard Maldonado’s last words, he said.

“I can’t breathe; I need a priest,” Cillo told the jurors she said before dying at the scene.

Witnesses said they heard Candelario, from the back seat of the Cruze, call out for help and attempt to comfort Maldonado who was sitting in the front seat, he said.

Candelario died later in the day at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland with nine broken ribs on her right side, “several” on the left and her pelvis was broken in multiple spots leading to internal bleeding, Cillo said.

One witness saw Glaze move to the front of his vehicle and throw something into the weeds on the side of the road, he said.

A crack pipe was found at the scene that tested positive for cocaine, and a pill bottle was found that tested positive for heroin, Cillo said.

“Pretty much right from the beginning, something didn’t seem right about (Glaze),” he said.

Glaze had “pinpoint pupils” and seemed not to follow what people were saying to him, Cillo said.

Glaze had no signs of high blood pressure the day of the crash and continued to “nod off,” his condition seemed to improve as the day wore on, the prosecutor said.

Cillo said paramedics on scene considered giving Glaze a dose of naloxone, an anti-overdose drug, but he had not overdosed, but he was under the influence.

A hospital drug test showed that Glaze had cocaine, opioids and Xanax in his system, he said.

All of the drugs would be evident from medical records and will be presented as the trial progresses.

In his opening statement, Glaze’s attorney Michael J. Kinlin said the fatal crash was an accident.

“There was no criminal act there,” Kinlin said.

No doubt Glaze rear-ended the other cars without braking, but he was not under the influence, the attorney said.

“He had lost consciousness,” Kinlin said.

Glaze had been diagnosed with syncope, a disorder that causes one to lose consciousness when their blood pressure falls, after an incident in January 2016 where something similar had happened, the attorney said.

“Two of his doctors diagnosed him (with this) and neither told him he couldn’t drive a vehicle,” Kinlin said.

Blood and urine tests only show Glaze had used cocaine or an opioid between two and four days before the crash, he said.

Test results that would be presented in the trial would prove this, Kinlin said.

While Glaze’s license was suspended, it was only because he “forgot” to pay a seatbelt ticket, not because he’s a “bad driver,” the attorney said.

The symptoms investigators attributed to drug use were caused by head injuries Glaze received in the crash, Kinlin said.

“He had a head injury,” the attorney said. “This nodding off that Mr. Cillo talked about … is also a symptom of having a concussion or a head injury.”

The trial is scheduled to resume Jan. 25.

Source :
Trial begins for driver in fatal Amherst Township crash