MOUNT VERNON — The man accused of causing a two-vehicle crash on Aug. 1 that killed a Mount Vernon mother and left her husband and two of her children critically injured has been charged with four felonies, according to Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville.
Vince G. Arthur, 36, of Rineyville, Kentucky, has been charged in Mount Vernon Municipal Court with one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and three counts of aggravated vehicular assault.
He is currently in the Knox County Jail on charges that could result in more than two decades in prison.
The incident
The crash occurred at approximately 6:47 p.m. on Aug. 1, according to the Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Arthur was driving a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado southbound on State Route 661, near Airport Road in Miller Township. Samantha O’Rourke, 31, of Mount Vernon, was driving a 2014 Hyundai Elantra northbound on the same road.
According to the OSHP, Arthur “drove left of center and struck Mrs. O’Rourke’s vehicle head-on.” Her vehicle was occupied by three passengers: Levi O’Rourke, 33, of Mount Vernon, and two juveniles.
Samantha O’Rourke did not survive the crash. She was pronounced deceased on scene by medical personnel, the OSHP stated.
Levi O’Rourke was flown from the scene to Grant Medical Center in Columbus with serious injuries. Both juveniles were flown to Nationwide Children’s Hospital with serious injuries.
Arthur sustained minor injuries and was transported from the scene to Knox Community Hospital.
All individuals involved were wearing seatbelts at the time of the traffic crash, the OSHP stated. Alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash.
The charges
Arthur was apprehended the night of the crash and transported from KCH to the Knox County Jail, McConville said. He was charged the next day.
The vehicular homicide charge relates to the death of Samantha O’Rourke, McConville said. The three vehicular assault charges relate to the injuries sustained by Levi O’Rourke and the two children.
“The aggravating factor is the allegation that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, and that was the proximate cause of death in the homicide and of serious physical injury in the assaults,” McConville said.
Levi O’Rourke remained at Grant Medical Center as of Tuesday, the OSHP stated. The children – both between the ages of 9 and 14 – remained at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. McConville said one of the children is still unconscious following the crash.
“Obviously we hope that boy makes a full recovery,” McConville said. “But if his condition takes a turn for the worse, obviously we would substitute another homicide charge in for the assault charge.”
Mount Vernon Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher set Arthur’s bond at $100,000 without the 10% provision on Aug. 2.
There is a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. Noel Alden, a criminal defense attorney from Mount Vernon-based Zelkowitz, Barry, & Cullers Ltd. who has been retained by Arthur, said he plans to ask Thatcher for a continuance on the hearing.
“We have no comment at this time. I just got the case and I’m looking it over,” said Alden, when asked about the charges. “Mr. Arthur is very concerned about the family. His first question to me was about the status of the family.
“We’re looking into that and trying to figure out how to navigate this.”
McConville said he expects to present evidence in the case to a Knox County grand jury next week.
If convicted, Arthur faces up to 23 years in prison on the current charges. Vehicular homicide is a second-degree felony, carrying a penalty of 2 to 8 years; vehicular assault is a third-degree felony, carrying a penalty of 1 to 5 years.
McConville said some vehicular homicide cases – those involving assailants driving under suspension, or with three or more prior OVI convictions, or with a prior vehicular homicide or assault conviction – are classified as first-degree felonies, carrying a penalty of 3 to 11 years in prison.
But McConville’s office has chosen to pursue a second-degree charge, given the fact that Arthur had just one prior OVI conviction.
“It’s a tremendously complicated statute that has all kind of enhancing factors going into it,” McConville said of vehicular homicide in Ohio. “The enhancing factors to get it to a (first-degree felony) are not present here.”
Mount Vernon bar under investigation
A Mount Vernon bar is also under investigation as a result of the fatal collision Aug. 1.
The Ohio Investigative Unit (OIU), a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, is currently investigating a Mount Vernon bar in relation to the incident, Mount Vernon Law Director Rob Broeren said Tuesday.
“At this time, there has been no request for any criminal charges against either the bar or the bartenders on duty,” Broeren said.
The OIU investigates “suspected illegal activity in liquor permit premises (bars, restaurants, carryouts, etc.),” according to its website.
“Investigations may be related to locations operating without a permit or to drug, gambling, counterfeiting or property crimes. Agents also investigate the illegal manufacture of alcohol, as well as businesses and individuals involved in food stamp fraud.
“Related activities may include compliance checks to ensure liquor permit premises are not selling alcohol or tobacco products to underage individuals or trace-back investigations to determine whether alcohol was illegally sold or provided to an underage or already-intoxicated person involved in an alcohol-related crash or incident.”
OIU agents are fully-sworn, plainclothes peace officers responsible for enforcing Ohio’s alcohol, tobacco and food stamp fraud laws. The agency is a component of the OSHP.
Broeren said his office has worked with the OIU in the past.
“They’ll do an investigation, and if they believe charges are warranted, they would write up a packet of what they believe the charges should entail,” Broeren said.
“They would make an appointment to come and see me, and we would discuss the case. I would then sign off on and authorize the charges they’ve requested, or if I thought there were some other problems or issues with (the request), we could talk about alternative charges.”
Broeren’s office would then prosecute the case moving forward, as long as the charges were misdemeanors. Felony charges would be handled by the Knox County prosecutor’s office.
