SOLON, Ohio -- Solon police on Monday released the names of a woman who died and her boyfriend who was arrested after police said he drove away from a traffic stop and crashed late Friday.
Augustin Thompkins, 26, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence, endangering children and other charges in the crash that left his girlfriend, 26-year-old Ishonna Pratcher, dead.
The couple’s two children, ages 5 and 1, were also injured in the crash and have been released from the hospital into the care of family members, police said.
The family lived together in South Euclid before the crash, police said.
Thompkins is being held in the Solon jail on a $1 million bond, police said.
The crash came about 11:30 p.m. Friday, after officers in Garfield Heights on an unrelated assignment spotted a Jeep with no tail lights swerving on I-480 East, police said in a release. The officers pulled the Jeep over and talked to the driver who they suspected was intoxicated, the release said. They also noticed a woman and two children in the backseat.
Lt. Bill Vajdich said that officers did not specify whether they suspected Thompkins was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and are awaiting toxicology results.
The officers asked for backup and the driver sped off, police said. Officers tried to follow the Jeep but lost track of it and wound up going the wrong way, the release said.
Another officer driving west on U.S. 422 spotted the Jeep heading east and watched as it ran off the road and crashed near the Harper Road exit, the release said.
Pratcher was ejected from the Jeep and rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Thompkins was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released into police custody.
Police did not disclose the injuries the children suffered. The Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services is monitoring the case, police said.
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