LORAIN, Ohio — A 41-year-old Lorain man who entered a car to record the aftermath of a fatal Monday morning car crash made no attempt to assist or contact police for help, police said.
Paul Pelton was arrested Wednesday and charged with vehicular trespassing, a misdemeanor
The car’s passenger, the 17-year-old Cameron Friend, died Monday at a Cleveland hospital. The driver was also a 17-year-old boy. He was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center. His condition was not immediately available.
Several bystanders rushed to the crash site in an attempt try to free the boys from the car after it caught fire. Pelton simply recorded the scene with a cellphone camera, police said.
“He went right in after the crash, before the rescuers or police arrived,” said Lorain Police Detective Buddy Sivert.
In the video, the Lorain man referred to the boys trapped in the car as “idiots,” a police report said.
He opened a back door and leaned in to film the boys and then walked around to the front door as he continued recording. At no time did he try to help either of the boys, the report said.
Pelton put the video on Facebook under the name Paul Santucci. It has since been taken down.
He tried to sell it to two news organizations, Sivert said.
Pelton never approached the police with the video, according to the report.
Police later learned of the recording and identified Pelton as the man who shot it. They turned the case over the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office, who issued a warrant for Pelton’s arrest Wednesday.
He was taken into custody at his house later that morning, police said.
His first court appearance has not been scheduled yet.
The Honda sedan with the two boys inside sped over a Kansas Avenue railroad crossing early Monday, and the driver lost control, swerved off the road and crashed into a two-story house.
