Overview
- The Ohio State Highway Patrol says Cayton, 40, was assisting a disabled tractor-trailer on Route 11 near U.S. 224 shortly before noon Thursday.
- Investigators report a 2007 Mack Granite driven by 35-year-old Ryan Rach struck Cayton’s cruiser, pushing it into the tractor-trailer and hitting its driver, 65-year-old Nelson Vasquez.
- Cayton was pronounced dead at the scene; Vasquez was flown to a hospital for treatment, and Rach was not injured.
- Governor Mike DeWine ordered U.S. and Ohio flags lowered in Cayton’s memory, as agency leaders offered public condolences.
- The crash remains under OSHP investigation, Route 11 reopened after extended closures, and a police escort took Cayton’s body to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner.