Drunken driver in fatal 2010 Elyria crash arrested again on DUI charge

An Elyria man who served time in prison and whose driver's license was stripped from him for life after he killed an Elyria teen in a 2010 drunken-driving crash is facing new DUI charges after being arrested by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 13. Mark Ralich, 33, of Bath Street, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of DUI, DUI refusal and driving under suspension by a Lorain County sheriff's deputy just inside Elyria's northern city limits shortly before 11 p.m. Oct. 13. The charges are being heard in Elyria Municipal Court. In June 2012, Ralich pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, DUI and other charges in Lorain County Common Pleas Court in the death of 18-year-old Andrew "A.J." Vincent and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released from prison in 2018, with a lifetime suspension on his driver's license. A message seeking comment on the arrest was left for Ralich's attorney of record, Kenneth Lieux. Oct. 13 arrest According to the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, a deputy responded to the Mahd House Bar & Grille at 41573 North Ridge Road in Elyria Township at 10:40 p.m. Oct. 13 after Ralich's girlfriend, a 41-year-old Elyria woman, called dispatch to report that Ralich stole her white 2021 Honda Accord "and was driving around honking in the parking lot," according to a copy of the police report obtained by The Chronicle-Telegram through a public records request. Sheriff's Deputy Adam Shaw wrote that when he arrived, he saw the Honda pull into the bar's parking lot from Ethel Avenue, then watched as it pulled back out onto North Ridge Road, "squealing the tires," and headed east on North Ridge Road. The deputy followed Ralich from North Ridge Road onto state Route 57, a distance of about 1 mile, until Ralich pulled into the Friendship gas station on Schadden Road and stopped the car, according to the report. Rallich was ordered out of the car, handcuffed, and read his rights, Shaw wrote. Ralich had red, bloodshot, watery eyes, "a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath," and admitted having "a few beers" to drink, according to the report. Ralich said his girlfriend gave him the keys to the car. He also said he got upset with her at the bar because she was meeting up with other men, according to the report. Ralich refused field sobriety tests and breath tests. The car was towed and Ralich was taken to the Lorain County Jail. "While en route Mr. Ralich was extremely irate, yelling and cussing at this deputy," Shaw wrote in his report. As Shaw tried to read Ralich a form notifying him of an automatic license suspension, Ralich "kept yelling 'you're a b----!'" at Shaw and again refused testing, according to the deputy's report. Another deputy met Ralich's girlfriend, who was also "extremely intoxicated," at the bar. She declined to press charges against Ralich for taking her car, according to a police report. Background Ralich admitted in court that he was intoxicated and driving a Chevrolet Malibu when he hit Vincent's Ford Focus at the intersection of Brandston Avenue and Poplar Street at about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 27, 2010, according to Chronicle-Telegram archives. The crash that killed Vincent happened less than 1,000 feet from his Brandston Avenue home. Two passengers in Vincent's car were seriously injured and a third ran for help. Emergency crews had to extricate Vincent and the two injured passengers from the wrecked car with family members looking on. Ralich's blood-alcohol content was 0.23 percent, nearly three times the legal limit to drive, and he had traces of cocaine and marijuana in his system — though it wasn't clear if he was under the influence of those drugs at the time of the crash. Ralich also had three alcohol-related misdemeanor convictions in the two years prior to the fatal crash. Hundreds of people showed up to a vigil in Vincent's honor three days after his death. The Elyria High School graduate and Lorain County Community College criminal justice/forensics student was remembered by family as funny, talented, and a loving son, brother and uncle. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers sentenced Ralich to seven years in prison in November 2012, and suspended his driver's license for the rest of his life, according to Chronicle archives and court records. Ralich was released from prison in November 2018, according to Chronicle archives. Other arrests At least three times since then, he's been arrested and booked into the Lorain County Jail on parole violations, according to jail records. The escape and vandalism case arose out of an incident on June 3, 2021, at the Lorain-Medina County Community Based Correctional Facility at 9892 Murray Ridge Road in Elyria. According to a deputy sheriff's report, he and another deputy were flagged down in the 9600 block of Murray Ridge Road by CBCF Operations Director Don Nickerson, who said that Ralich had just escaped the facility. Ralich, wearing a red T-shirt and blue jeans, had smashed a window and run north up Murray Ridge Road. Deputies set up a perimeter and Deputy Amanda Berry deployed K-9 Max to track Ralich down, according to the report. When the deputies and the K-9 approached Rallich in a small patch of woods near the Seventh Day Adventist Church at 9652 Murray Ridge Road, Ralich gave up, asking deputies not to let the dog bite him, according to Berry's report. Ralich told deputies he broke out and ran "because there were gang members in there and they wanted to hurt him because they thought he snitched on someone," according to Berry's report. Ralich pleaded not guilty to felony escape and vandalism charges in the 2021 case, according to court records. A pretrial hearing is set in Judge John Miraldi's courtroom on Oct. 31 and a trial on Dec. 13. Ralich also was arrested by Elyria police on a felony aggravated burglary charge in March 2021. Shortly before 7:30 p.m. March 13, 2021, Elyria officers were called to Harvard Avenue for a report that Ralich broke into a house where he believed his ex-girlfriend was, punched a man in the face and grabbed a woman. He ran when the woman told him she was calling the police. Officers found Ralich drunk and riding a bike on the Black River bridge and arrested him, according to an Elyria police report. That charge later was dismissed and Ralich released from jail, according to jail records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.