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Driver charged with vehicular homicide for crash into dump truck that killed his passenger

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CINCINNATI — The driver who crashed into a parked, unoccupied dump truck in West Price Hill last week now faces a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide, according to court records.

Police arrested 18-year-old Abelardo Mendez over the weekend; Mendez was initially taken to a hospital with serious injuries after the crash, which happened on September 25.

The crash happened at 11:17 p.m. Wednesday night around 4010 West 8th Street in West Price Hill.

Cincinnati police said Mendez was driving a 2016 Chevy Equinox west on 8th Street when he crashed into an unoccupied dump truck parked in the curb lane.

A passenger in his front seat, who has yet to be identified by the Hamilton County Coroner's Office, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. That passenger is listed only as "John Doe" in court documents.

Court documents say the crash was captured by a nearby surveillance camera. The video showed the car Mendez was allegedly driving "traveling at a high rate of speed at impact with the parked vehicle."

Police noted in court documents that at the time of the crash, Mendez did not have a valid driver's license.

Police at the scene of the crash initially told us one of the drivers involved in the crash fled the scene; CPD's most recent press release clarifies the dump truck was unoccupied and there was not a second driver involved.

In court on Monday, a judge ordered Mendez be held on a $100,000 bond.

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