TOLEDO — The driver involved in an August hit-and-run crash that sent U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur and her campaign manager to the hospital has been arrested, according to Lucas County records reported this week.
Toledo police had previously identified the driver as Jaheim Wright, 23, and obtained warrants for his arrest. Wright was wanted on two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, both second-degree felonies, and one count of failure to stop after an accident, a fourth-degree felony. The arrest brings a case that has been open since early August into Lucas County court.
The crash happened on Aug. 2 in Toledo while Kaptur was traveling to a church service. The other vehicle struck the car carrying Kaptur and her campaign manager and left the scene, and both occupants were taken to a hospital for treatment. Kaptur, the Toledo Democrat who represents Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, was later treated for injuries that required a period of rehabilitation.
In September, about six weeks after the crash, Kaptur returned to Washington to resume her work in Congress. She underwent rehabilitation at the University of Toledo and said at the time that she still had to protect injured ligaments for several more months, even as she felt ready to return to her duties on Capitol Hill.
Toledo Police Chief Michael Troendle said when the warrants were issued that investigators had stayed focused on the case from the beginning, and he credited cooperation from the community for helping move it forward. Police had asked anyone with information about Wright’s whereabouts to contact Crime Stoppers while he remained at large.
The arrest does not resolve the case. Wright now faces the felony counts in the Lucas County court system, where prosecutors will present the evidence gathered since August and a judge will set the schedule for his first appearances and any bond conditions. As with any criminal case, the charges are allegations and Wright is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
For northwest Ohio residents, the case closes a long stretch of uncertainty about a crash that briefly sidelined the region’s longtime congresswoman in the middle of a competitive election cycle. Kaptur has continued her campaign and congressional work since returning in September. NewsForce247 will follow Wright’s first court appearance and any statement from Kaptur’s office on the arrest.