Police seek bar photos of driver in fatal crash

State investigators have apparently seized more potential evidence in connection with a fatal crash that took place Nov. 15 on Ohio Rt. 13 in Trimble.

Earlier, Ohio State Highway Patrol officers had obtained a search warrant to take the "œblack box" recording device out of the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier that was involved in the crash.

State liquor agents have now obtained a warrant to try to get their hands on a camera that they reportedly believe may contain pictures of the driver in the crash drinking at a Glouster bar before the accident.

Stephanie Gaddis, 33, the owner of the car, was killed in the crash. Jason W. Riley, 37, of Glouster, was allegedly driving. He and another Glouster man, Howard H. Holcombe, 38, were both injured in the crash.

Troopers allege the car was traveling at an illegally high rate of speed north on Rt. 13 around 1:30 a.m. when it failed to negotiate a curve and went off the side of the road, hitting a signpost and utility pole. Authorities say they believe alcohol played a role in the crash.

In a search warrant affidavit signed by agent Byron Guinther of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the officer stated that he has received information that Riley had been drinking at the Shingle Inn before the crash, that Gaddis had taken pictures of him in the bar, and that the camera was in the vehicle, which has been impounded at a towing lot in Nelsonville.

The warrant paperwork indicates that the search was conducted, and that evidence was seized, but does not specify what that evidence was.