CANFIELD, Ohio — An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper was killed Thursday while assisting with a disabled vehicle in Mahoning County.

Trooper Nicholas P. Cayton, 40, responded to State Rt. 11 northbound at 11:52 a.m. for a disabled Kenworth tractor-trailer stopped in the right lane. It was determined that Nelson De Jesus Herrera Vasquez, 65, of Florida had struck an item in the roadway, the patrol said.

Mr. Vasquez was standing outside his vehicle, and Mr. Cayton was sitting in his marked cruiser with the emergency overhead lights activated when a 2007 Mack Granite driven by Ryan Rach, 35, of Canfield, traveling northbound crashed into the back of his cruiser.

“The cruiser then traveled forward into the back of the disabled tractor-trailer, also striking Vasquez,” a patrol report said.

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