CINCINNATI — A man accused of crashing into three vehicles — including a AAA tow truck — on the shoulder of I-275 and killing three people will face new charges, according to his indictment on Monday.
The charges 29-year-old Andrew Blankenship faced have doubled in number: A grand jury indicted him on six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault. If Blankenship is convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 27 years in prison.
Previously, Blankenship was charged with three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular assault, though the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said more could still be added.
According to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, Blankenship was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, a detail that had not previously been announced.
Blankenship is being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center on an $800,000 bond.
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.
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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