People remember wrong-way crash victim and suspect

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - On Thursday, DPS released surveillance video of the wrong way driver that caused a fatal crash on Tuesday.

The first images show the driver leaving the airport at 7:38 p.m., and at one point, that driver, identified as Ronald Mollenhauer, almost hit a person in the crosswalk.

The security video shows Mollenhauer driving into a parking lot, then eventually turning around. The driver blows through a barrier gate, and less than two minutes later, the camera captures the driver heading in the wrong direction.

The crash happened nearly six minutes later, killing Mollenhauer and another man, 54-year-old Young Lee.

Victim, Suspect Remembered

A neighbor who knew Mollenhauer for a couple of years said he had been diagnosed with Throat Cancer, and at one point, he was even told he had three months to live.

That neighbor said, however, that Mollenhauer had survived a year since then, and she thought it was possible his cancer had reappeared. She went on to say Mollenhauer had no family locally, but had a daughter who lives out of state.

Meanwhile, people who knew the victim, 54-year-old Young Lee, are also talking about him. Lee was the owner of Don's Cigar Shop at Central and Camelback, and was well known in both the cigar community and in the business community in the Valley. Lee had even met with the Arizona Commerce Authority recently, and wanted to help bring businesses in Asia to Arizona.

The case remains under investigation, and it may be weeks before Mollenhauer's toxicology results are released.