AMHERST — The nephew of a well–known area builder died in an early morning motorcycle crash today that was not discovered for several hours.

The accident took the life of James R. Lahetta, 34, who was raised in the Amherst area, according to his uncle Tom Lahetta, owner of Tom Lahetta Builders of South Amherst. “He was a good kid. I just heard about it a couple of hours ago,” Tom Lahetta said Thursday afternoon. “It’s so sad. His parents are pretty heartbroken. We all loved him.”

The son of Jim and Glory Lahetta of Amherst, James was headed to a friend’s home about 2:30 a.m. Thursday when the accident reportedly occurred, Amherst police said. Lahetta was southbound on South Lake Street on his 2004 Yamaha motorcycle when he apparently went off the left side of the road while trying to negotiate a right-hand curve in the road at Beech Cliff Drive.

Police reports said Lahetta lost control of his motorcycle, went off the road and struck a utility pole. Lahetta was thrown from the motorcycle, which traveled into a private yard just south of Beech Cliff Drive.

Lahetta died some time prior to a passing motorist discovering the crash and his body, police said. “The road he was on was not traveled very much and it is hilly in that area,” a police dispatcher said.

Due to the uneven contour of the ground in the area, neither Lahetta nor his motorcycle could be readily seen, especially in the pre-dawn darkness, police said. “When we got the call from a motorist, it was as daylight was dawning, and he noticed the bike on the ground,” the dispatcher said. “Then he saw the man.”

Lahetta died of internal chest injuries, according to Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus, who indicated the man was not wearing a helmet. Toxicology tests were to be done to determine whether drugs or alcohol played a part in the crash, police said.

It was also not immediately known whether speed was a factor in the accident.

Results from those tests will likely not be completed until mid-week next week, according to the coroner’s offices.
Ironically, Tom Lahetta was very familiar with the scene of the crash. “I worked on several homes within 500 feet of there. I’m very familiar with the dip and the curve in the road coming out of that dip. I know he knew the roads.”

Lahetta speculated whether frost that was forecast overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning might have played a hand in the accident. “He’d had that motorcycle for awhile. He was a pretty safe driver. There were heavy frost warnings last night. If there was frost on the road, with two wheels, they wouldn’t have helped much.”

James Lahetta worked as an auto mechanic, according to his uncle, who said the younger man had lived in Elyria for a time before moving back in with his parents in Amherst last fall. James Lahetta’s father, also named James, is a longtime employee at the U.S. Steel plant in Lorain, according to Ton Lahetta.

His mother, whose maiden name is Lesher, has family members who served as area police officers, including her father Robert, who was an Elyria policeman, and also worked for the county coroner’s office for a time, according to Tom Lahetta.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

OAKLAND, Calif. — David DeJesus hit his first two home runs of the season, Trevor Cahill pitched another gem and the Oakland Athletics snapped Cleveland’s seven-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory over the Indians on Wednesday night.

DeJesus’ two solo shots handed Josh Tomlin (4-1) his first loss of the year. They were two of just four hits in the game for the offensively challenged Athletics, and all they needed behind their ace.

Cahill (5-0) gave up five hits and three walks in seven innings and never had any serious jams. He struck out five and matched his career-high with 116 pitches.

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Grant Balfour allowed only a walk in the ninth for his first save this season.

Tomlin struck out five and walked none in 72⁄3 innings. He didn’t allow a baserunner besides DeJesus until Mark Ellis reached on an error in the eighth when third baseman Jack Hannahan bobbled a grounder, and Coco Crisp drove him in on a single to give Oakland a 3-1 lead.

DeJesus broke out of his slump with a solo home run that just cleared the right-field wall in the first inning.

That snapped a 55-game streak without a home run for DeJesus that dated to last season, the second-longest of his career.

After the Indians evened the score on Travis Hafner’s two-out RBI single in the third, DeJesus hit his second home run to deep right-center field to put Oakland back in front. It was the first multihomer game of the season for any A’s player, and it couldn’t have come from a more unlikely source.

DeJesus had never had two home runs in a game in nine seasons in the majors, and he was hitting just .227 entering the game.

The Indians have surprisingly been off to one of baseball’s best starts this season and could have equaled their best start in franchise history through 29 games had they won another. The only time they began a season 21-8 was in 1920.

The only serious threat the Indians mounted off Cahill came in the third, when Grady Sizemore led off the inning with a double. Carlos Santana walked with two outs before Hafner’s single, and Cahill got Orlando Cabrera to ground out and end the threat.

Notable

• Cahill also threw 116 pitches on Sept. 4 in a 3-1 win over the Angels last season.
• A’s All-Star closer Andrew Bailey faced hitters before the game, throwing about 25 pitches — only fastballs — at full velocity. Bailey hasn’t pitched this season because of a strained right forearm. The team will decide today what the next step is for Bailey.
• Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco threw a light bullpen session back in Cleveland. He will pitch about 4-5 innings for Double-A Akron on Friday, manager Manny Acta said.
• Oakland C Kurt Suzuki was given the night off with a day game today.
• Entering Wednesday night’s game, the Indians had won four straight games in their last at-bat. The last time they had done that was July 2-5, 1962.

COLUMBUS — Auto club AAA says gasoline prices continue to rise to heights never seen before in Ohio.

The statewide average price for regular today was a record $4.16 a gallon, according to the daily survey of gas stations done by AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That’s three cents more than the previous record, set on Tuesday.

Ohio pump prices have hit three new all-time highs since Saturday. Ohio is now among the 10 states with the highest gas prices; the state’s average is 18 cents above the current national average for regular, which is $3.98 a gallon.

Around the city of Medina, the most reasonable price for a gallon of regular-unleaded fuel was listed at $4.09 this morning at Sheetz, 5100 Ridge Road, according to OhioGasPrices.com. In Seville, gas was priced this morning at $4.05 at the Pilot station, which is located at 8924 Lake Road.

The website lists a Pit Stop station in Coshocton as having the cheapest gas statewide at $3.85 per gallon, while the most expensive is $4.35 at a Hall Fuel Mart in Canton.

Officials with AAA have said the cost of gas keeps climbing due to high oil prices and the changeover from winter- to summer-blend gasoline.

SHEFFIELD LAKE — Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was charged with DUI early Monday after tests showed his blood-alcohol content was more than 2½ times the legal limit, police said.

Choo

Choo was pulled over about 2:25 a.m. after he was spotted weaving in the 5500 block of Lake Road in Sheffield Lake by an officer who was on patrol in the area, according to a police report.

He left the city jail on a personal bond a few hours after his arrest and, as he was leaving the police station, he threw a digital camera he had onto the police station’s concrete parking lot, destroying it.

“From what the officer told me, he was going through all kinds of different mood swings, he was real friendly and nice, then he’d get real angry and when he was walking out he threw his camera down and busted it,” Sheffield Lake Police Chief Larry Bliss said.

Choo, a key cog in the middle of the Indians lineup a year ago, has been struggling at the plate for much of the year, even as his team continues winning. He was in Oakland on Tuesday as the Indians started a six-game road trip against the A’s and then the Angels.

“We are aware of the incident with Shin-Soo Choo and have spoken to him about it,” Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said in a statement on the team website. “The Indians organization takes these issues very seriously and we are disappointed in the matter.”

Choo was driving down Ferndale Avenue in a 2007 Cadillac SUV when he pulled over to ask an officer who was on patrol in the area for directions to Avon Lake, where Choo lives, according to a police report.

After offering Choo directions, the officer followed him to make sure he did not get lost again, but Choo pulled down a side street a few minutes later and put his hazards on so the officer would give him additional instructions on how to get home. The officer said he did not smell any alcohol on Choo while he spoke to him, according to the report.

While following him again, the officer noticed Choo’s vehicle cross the double yellow center line in the 5500 block of Lake Road then come to a flashing yellow light and almost come to a complete stop before continuing eastbound, according to the police report.

The vehicle then drove onto a bike path. While moving back into the road, it ended up crossing over the double yellow lines again, the report said. That’s when the officer conducted a traffic stop.

The South Korean-born Choo failed several sobriety tests, including not being able to count past “five one thousand” and using the wrong fingers to touch his nose. He was placed under arrest and while at the station blew a 0.201 on the breath test. Ohio law deems a driver too impaired to drive at 0.08.

Choo was given a ride home to Avon Lake by a patrolman using his cruiser, which is something commonly done with people charged with DUI if they live close, Bliss said.

“Normally we do it if they live close,” he said. “If they live in Lorain, Avon Lake or Sheffield Lake and we can’t get ahold of anybody.”

Choo’s white vehicle had damage on the bumper area, including green paint and scratches, according to the report.

Contact Adam Wright at 329-7155 or awright@chroniclet.com.