Man charged in fatal hit-and-run with motorcyclist

By Patrick W. Connelly
Herald Staff Writer

BROOKFIELD May 12, 2008 09:09 pm

— A Sandy Lake Township man police say left a Youngstown motorcyclist for dead last August after a crash in Brookfield was arraigned Monday on vehicular homicide charges.
Dewayne Merle Redinger, 21, of 114 Rowitsch Road, was identified after a long search as the driver of a pickup truck that on Aug. 16 hit and killed Michael D. Brown, 38, of Youngstown, police said.
Redinger was taken to Trumbull County Jail and charged Friday with aggravated vehicular homicide, tampering with evidence and failing to stop after a crash, police said.
Redinger hit Brown at about 10:10 p.m. at state Route 82 and Collar Price Road after leaving a truck night event in Brookfield, police said.
Brown, formerly of Kentucky, was a painter for Indalex, Inc., of Youngstown. He was survived by his wife, Dawn, and three sons, Ondr’e, Brandon Michael and Anthony.
The Browns and Crime Stoppers of Youngstown offered a reward in October for information that led to the alleged hit-and-run driver’s arrest.
It was tips from anonymous callers not interested in the reward though that finally led to Redinger’s arrest, Trooper William Bancroft of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.
“It was just a matter of finding him over time,” Bancroft said.
Police narrowed down Redinger as a suspect, but weren’t sure of his whereabouts, the trooper said.
Redinger had recently moved back to the Stoneboro area after living for several months in Tennessee, Bancroft said.
The trooper said he couldn’t “confirm or deny” that Redinger was under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the time of the crash.
Redinger’s truck, which police said had a 2-foot-long Confederate flag across its rear window, still hasn’t been located, police said.
Redinger waived his charges to the Trumbull County grand jury at his arraignment Monday before Judge Ronald J. Rice, Eastern District Court, Brookfield, a court secretary said.