ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A deadly crash in Anderson Township Friday night killed three people, including a AAA worker.
The Hamilton Coroner’s office reported that 22-year-old Janaya Glover, 38-year-old Keith Skaggs and 66-year-old Richard Glaser, 66 were all killed in a crash on I-275 near the New Richmond and Five Mile exits.
Skaggs worked for AAA and was preparing to load a AAA member’s car onto the back of his tow truck. His pastor, Jim Love, said Skaggs was supposed to get married to Karen Helton on July 1.
"You could see the love between Keith and Karen was pretty evident, pretty evident and she’s a sharp girl. She fell in love with Keith and then I think she came in and she fell in love with our church," Love said.
He added Skaggs was a loving man who would do anything to help his church.
"Whenever I needed odds and ends things done that were usually from, 'Go pick up chicken for a church event' to 'Grab a couple guys and move this for me,' Keith was my guy," he said.
Love noted Skaggs was a member of their security team. His death has been hard on his family and loved ones.
"For his parents, they’ve just lost their second son — and they only had two sons," Love said
Skaggs' older brother Kevin died five years ago at the age of 39.
"He was diagnosed with a tumor that’s only in children and this tumor was so much of a child situation that he had to be treated at Children’s Hospital," Love said. "So he died of this brain tumor at Children’s Hospital."
AAA Director of Fleet Operations Chris Overpeck said Skaggs joined the AAA team 90 days ago. Even though he was new to the team, Overpeck said it was clear he loved to help others.
"I got the pleasure of meeting Keith a few weeks ago. My mother’s car broke down and he came out to tow her car back to my house," Overpeck said. "During that, I was able to have a good 30-minute conversation with Keith and truly felt the impact of what he loved to do."
Overpeck said he thinks of his crews as first responders.
"They’re truly out there trying to help somebody out of a dangerous situation and every day these women and men put their lives on the line on the side of the highway. Even though we have slow down and move over laws, not many people obey it," he said. "Dangerous driving kills people."
He added this isn’t the first time a member of this AAA fleet has lost someone. He said one of their workers was killed similarly to Skaggs a few years ago.
"Over in Price Hill on a Rapid Run Road at night on the Fourth of July holiday, when again inattentive drivers for whatever reasons — being distracted or whatever — ends up colliding and causing a chain reaction accident," he said.
Overpeck said they do everything they can to keep their people safe, but they can’t control what drivers do.
"We try everything. We put our drivers in reflective clothing so they can be seen and reflected off headlights, as you’ve seen with our trucks, our trucks are basically lit up like a Christmas tree. The lights are very important. We’ve incorporated and actually made our own warning light box," Overpeck said. "The one thing we cannot control is that third-party, that other driver."
Love hopes more people will pay attention on the roads and pull over when they see a car on the side of the road.
The AAA fleet will host a vigil for Skaggs at their fleet garage on W. Fifth Street at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
