CINCINNATI — The man accused of crashing into three vehicles — including a AAA tow truck — on the shoulder of I-275, killing three people, has withdrawn his guilty plea.
In court Wednesday, Andrew Blankenship was scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty in February. Instead, he withdrew that guilty plea.
Blankenship's attorney told Judge Robert Ruehlman they wanted to withdraw the plea, since it was made with Judge Tom Heekin, who has been assigned the case from the beginning. Blankenship's legal team has repeatedly filed continuance requests on his sentencing since Heekin took a medical leave earlier this year.
"Judge, at this point we're going to ask the court to allow Mr. Blankenship to withdraw his guilty plea," said Blankenship's attorney. "This case has a procedural history that has taken a lot of twists and turns."
Prosecutors said they had no grounds to argue against the Judge granting Blankenship's plea change. However, the prosecution pointed out the case has stretched for over a year now and the families of the three people killed that day need resolution.
In February, Blankenship agreed to plead guilty to one count of vehicular assault and seven counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.
The crash happened on April 7, 2023. Blankenship was arrested roughly a week later.
Officials said Blankenship was driving on I-275 east on April 7 "at a high rate of speed and without lights on" when he hit a vehicle that had stopped to help a disabled car in the emergency lane.
That vehicle then collided with the disabled vehicle and a AAA vehicle, hitting and killing 38-year-old Keith Skaggs, a AAA tow truck driver who'd stopped to help.
The driver of the vehicle who stopped to help, Richard Glaser, 66, and one of the occupants of the disabled vehicle, Janaya Glover, 22, of Cincinnati were also killed. The coroner said Glover was not in a vehicle at the time of the crash. Glover's passenger — later identified by family as her brother — was injured in the crash.
According to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, witnesses reported seeing Blankenship driving between 90 and 100 mph without headlights on, erratically changing lanes — including driving up the shoulder of the highway to pass vehicles.
Prosecutors said Blankenship was driving on the shoulder when he hit Glaser's Lexus, parked behind Glover's on the emergency lane. The Lexus, with Glaser inside, was pushed into Glover's Dodge Stratus, which was then pushed into the tow truck.
Weeks after the crash, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office announced Blankenship was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
Kara Hitchens, the manager of public and government affairs for AAA, said Skaggs was preparing to load the vehicle on the back of his tow truck when the crash occurred.
Prosecutors said the AAA truck's warning lights were on and Skaggs was wearing high-visibility, reflective clothing.
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