Sunday evening that should have been just another summer night ended in
tragedy in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Ridge Reichman, an 18-year-old from New
Philadelphia, was behind the wheel of a 2021 Nissan Altima when everything
went sideways at a quiet intersection in Lawrence Township. The Ohio State
Highway Patrol confirmed he was dead by the time the night was over — taken
far too soon by a collision that investigators now believe alcohol may have
played a part in.
It was 7:53 p.m. on June 28 when the crash happened at the intersection of
North Orchard Road and Northwood Avenue. Reichman was heading north on
Northwood Avenue when he failed to stop at the stop sign. A 2019 Ram 1500
was moving east on North Orchard Road at the same moment, and the Ram
slammed into the left side of the Nissan. The force of the impact was enough
to send Reichman’s car veering off the north side of North Orchard Road with
violent momentum.
What made things so much worse was what Ridge wasn’t doing in the moments
before impact. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. When the crash happened, he was
ejected from the vehicle — thrown out of the car with nothing to hold him in.
That single detail, the missing seatbelt, is the kind of thing that haunts
people long after the ambulances leave. Emergency responders rushed to the
scene, but there was only so much they could do at that point.
Reichman was transported to Mercy Hospital, but he didn’t make it. He was
pronounced dead there, leaving behind a community in grief and a family that
will never be the same. He was only 18 years old — a kid at the very start of
his adult life, likely with plans and people who loved him, and now all of that
is gone.
The driver and the passenger riding in the Ram 1500 walked away without
a scratch. Both were buckled in, and that made all the difference. It’s a
painful contrast — two people in one vehicle go home that night, and the person
in the other vehicle does not. Seat belt use is one of the most basic acts of
self-protection a driver can do, and this crash is a devastating reminder of
why it matters every single time.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene to help. Bolivar Fire and EMS, Dover
EMS, Strasburg EMS, the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office, and Keith’s
Towing all showed up to assist troopers. The work of piecing together exactly
what happened and why is still ongoing. Troopers have not closed the book on
this one yet.
Alcohol is listed as a suspected factor in the crash, according to the Ohio
State Highway Patrol, though investigators are still working to confirm the full
details surrounding the collision. Ridge Reichman was 18 years old — legally
an adult, but barely. No one who knew him likely imagined that a June Sunday
evening would be the last night of his life. The investigation continues, and
the community is left with questions, grief, and a painful kind of silence
that only a sudden loss like this can bring.
