Dump truck driver indicted on vehicular homicide charges in fatal highway sign strike

A grand jury in Ohio has indicted a dump truck driver on two charges following a fatal accident that occurred when he struck an overhead highway sign last fall.

The Cuyahoga County Grand Jury has indicted 38 year old dump truck driver Jacob Beard on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.

According to the Ohio State Patrol, Beard was involved in the death of 62 year old motorist Daniel Ripepi on September 24, 2020, in Cleveland.

Troopers said that Beard was behind the wheel of a dump truck with a raised bed that was traveling westbound on I-480 when it struck the overhead sign at State Road.

The crash caused the sign to collapse on top of a pickup truck driven by Ripepi.

Ripepi did not survive.

Shortly after the fatal accident, the Ohio Department of Transportation said that Beard had recently left a construction site.

The indictment accuses Beard of operating recklessly.

Beard is scheduled for arraignment on March 23.