Teenager dead inside van after motorcycle crashes into passenger door in west Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A teenager operating a stolen motorcycle is dead after the driver crashed into the door of a minivan in the Hilltop early Monday morning.

According to police at the scene of the crash, a 2007 Honda Odyssey was heading westbound on West Broad Street while a motorcycle, a 2011 Yamaha FZ6R, was traveling east at a high rate of speed on West Broad Street. The driver of the Honda minivan, who did not see the motorcycle, began to turn left into a gas station at the intersection of West Broad St. and South Ogden Avenue.

The motorcycle struck the van and the man flew through the rear passenger window of the van. Police found the motorcyclist, identified as 18-year-old Joseph Ausmus, dead inside the minivan at 2:46 a.m.

Police said the motorcycle was reported stolen earlier this month and that the driver of the van was not hurt.

One block of West Broad Street, between South Warren Avenue and South Ogden Avenue, is currently closed while Columbus Police AIU continues to investigate.