Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024
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County jail inmate found dead Coroner finds no sign of injury Dave O’Brien The Community Guide
A 69-year-old man arrested on charges he solicited a 14-year-old girl for sex was found dead in his Lorain County Jail cell Sept. 15. An autopsy found no signs of injury, county Coroner Dr. Frank Miller said. Miller said he is waiting on the results of toxicology and other testing before issuing a final cause of death for Ricky Vankerkhove, who was found dead Sunday morning. Vankerkhove, 69, of Pineola, North
Carolina, was being held in the Lorain County Jail on $350,000 bond when he died. He was facing felony charges including assault and importuning, which means soliciting a minor for sex, following an Aug. 16 arrest by Elyria police. According to the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, Vankerkhove last was seen alive in his cell at 7:30 a.m. Sunday by corrections officers and medical staff, according to an initial report on his death that was reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram. It was at 11:14 a.m. that a corrections officer found Vankerkhove “unresponsive and slumped over on his bed during a routine check and while passing out meal trays,” accord-
ing to the report. Attempts to wake him up didn’t work, and the corrections officer called for assistance. Sheriff’s Lt. Joshua Croston said Tuesday there was no apparent sign of foul play. Vankerkhove was the only prisoner in the cell. All other inmates in the cellblock were in their assigned cells at the time, according to the report. He was arrested after a 14-year-old girl told Elyria police she was walking on Birch Street near West Avenue in Elyria on Aug. 16 when a man drove up in a silver Toyota Tacoma and offered her $2,000 for sex. The teen, who was on FaceTime with her mother at the time, took a picture of the truck, its the license
plate and the man, who was later identified as Vankerkhove. The teen kept him talking long enough for her mother to arrive at the scene, confront Vankerkhove, and get him to admit he had propositioned the girl for sex. Linda Vazquez told The Chronicle that she punched Vankerkhove several times in the face. He then started to drive away as she tried to pull him out of his truck. He didn’t get far. Vazquez said Vankerkhove stopped his truck at the end of Birch Street, called back to her and her daughter and again offered money for sex. “When he got to the stop sign when he left that dead end street (Birch
Street) he said, ‘Are you sure you don’t wanna make $2,000? That’s a lot for a little girl like you,’” Vazquez told The Chronicle at Vankerhove’s Aug. 19 arraignment in Elyria Municipal Court. Vankerkhove was arrested later that day by State Highway Patrol troopers after a traffic stop near state Route 301 and Webster Road at the border of LaGrange and Penfield townships. He was wearing the same clothing seen and photographed by the teenage girl, police said. Contact Dave O’Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.
County jail gets clean state review The Community Guide
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED
This rendering from Cedar Point shows the dead stop and “broken” section of track of the Siren’s Curse, a new roller coaster announced by the Sandusky amusement park for 2025.
Cedar Point getting scary new coaster The Community Guide
Cedar Point in Sandusky has announced a new roller coaster will debut in 2025. Siren’s Curse — the tallest, fastest and longest “tilt” roller coaster in North America — will feature a multimedia sensory experience as riders ascend an old 160-foot-tall Lake Erie shipping crane tower. Riders will then experience what a
statement from the park referred to as its signature moment, a dead stop on a “broken off” section of track. Then it will slowly tilt the entire train into a 90-degree vertical position, where riders can peer straight down to what appears to be open space. The track will lock into place, sending riders down and through 2,966 feet of track at a top speed of 58
mph. The ride will feature 13 weightless airtime moments, two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls and a high-speed “triple-down” element with twisted and overbanked track. “Record-breaking thrills have always been at the heart of Cedar Point’s roller coaster lineup, and Siren’s Curse lives up to that standard,” said Carrie Boldman, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point.
The Lorain County Jail has passed its most recent inspection by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction with no violations, Sheriff Phil Stammitti announced Monday. The jail, at 9896 Murray Ridge Road in Elyria, was inspected Sept. 19 and found to be in compliance with 178 different standards, state jail inspector Jack Barone told Stammitti in a letter that Stammitti shared with The ChronicleTelegram. Standards included reception and release, security, housing, sanitation and environmental conditions, communication, visitation, medical and mental health
services and more. Stammitti thanked the ODRC Bureau of Adult Detention for the report, and credited jail staff with passing the state inspection. “As you are aware, working in a correctional facility is no easy task, but I give the men and woman at this facility all the credit in doing a great job day in and day out to keep our residents and staff safe,” Stammitti wrote to Barone. The county is in the process replacing the aging jail, with the cost estimated at more than $80 million. Two consultants, an architectural firm and county officials have been working on the plans since last year.
Free Covid tests available again Community Guide
U.S. households will be able to order as many as four nasal swab tests at COVIDTests.gov when the federal program reopens. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency overseeing the program has not yet given an exact date when ordering can begin. An agency spokesperson has said the tests will detect current virus strains and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season, when families and friends gather.
Woman gets two years for bank robbery The Community Guide
serve three years on supervised release when she gets out of prison. Hunter, who was free on bond, was ordered to surrender herself to the U.S. Marshals
A federal judge last week sentenced a Cleveland woman to two years in prison for robbing a U.S. Bank branch in Elyria last winter. Tyaesha Hunter, 32, was sentenced to 24 months in prison Hunter by U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson, and ordered to pay $797 Service. in restitution and $100 in fines, The U.S. Attorney’s Office according to federal court records. Pearson also ordered her to asked for “a sentence on the low
end” of federal sentencing guidelines given Hunter’s “limited” criminal history, according to court records. Her attorney told the court Hunter is a single mother and abuse survivor whose mother was murdered in 2020. After she lost her job at a hotel in December, Hunter’s mental health broke down and she “made a horrible decision — she planned
and then robbed a bank,” her attorney wrote to the court. Since her arrest, Hunter found a job at a different hotel, started training to become a health care worker and is on medication, according to court records. Two family members and a co-worker wrote letters of support on her behalf, according to court records. Hunter pleaded guilty in June
to a charge of bank robbery. She admitted she walked into the U.S. Bank at 455 Midway Blvd. on Dec. 16 and handed a teller a note demanding money. The teller handed over $1,452 in cash, of which only $655 was recovered. Hunter then got in a gray 2015 Dodge Dart and drove away, but her car was caught on camera, allowing Elyria police to track her down.
INSIDE THIS WEEK Wellington
Fall sports underway for Dukes. A6
Oberlin
Cycling for charity. A4
Amherst
Comet football team is 5-0. A6
SPORTS A6 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8