Joshua Morrison/News First-responders investigate the death of an unidentified man who fell to his death from Rastin Tower this morning. * * *

Joshua Morrison/News Law enforcement surveys the scene of a vehicle crash this morning at 80 Pittsburgh Ave., Mount Vernon. A city official believes the accident is connected to this morning’s suicide at Ariel-Foundation Park.

(11:06 a.m. Thursday, June 21)MOUNT VERNON — A Newark man stole a truck and tried to steal a second vehicle minutes before he died after jumping from Rastin Tower.

Knox County Sheriff David Shaffer identified Ricky D. Snyder Jr., 35, Newark, as the individual who died at Ariel-Foundation Park Wednesday morning.

Snyder was observed climbing a series of rungs above Rastin’s spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower at approximately 8:39 a.m. Witnesses reported that Snyder was almost to the top, when he appeared to jump.

Snyder was spotted on the tower after crashing a stolen Ford truck nearby.

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(11:06 a.m. Thursday, June 21) Ricky Snyder Jr. appeared to be in “full focus” as he tried to steal an SUV from Jeff Hyatt’s West Gambier Street business Wednesday morning.

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10:26 a.m. Wednesday, June 20 MOUNT VERNON — A man fell to his death from the Rastin Tower this morning.

Mount Vernon Police Detective Sgt. Beth Marti confirmed that a male subject is dead following a fall from the tower at Ariel-Foundation Park. The man’s identity was not released as of press time Wednesday morning.

The death may be related to a single-vehicle crash near the park, Mount Vernon Safety-Service Director Joel Daniels told the News at the scene.

The call was paged out as a suicide at 8:39 a.m., on the Knox County 911 run times website. The website also reported a non-injury crash at 80 Pittsburgh Ave., at 8:34 a.m.

Lisa Myers, who lives near the park, has a view of the Rastin Tower from her window. She said she saw the man fall from the tower’s rungs, located above the winding staircase that goes up 140 feet of the tower’s 280 feet.

“My daughter and I saw him fall all the way down,” Myers said. “He was up on the rungs.”

The staircase has tall steel fencing on either side. To reach the rungs from the staircase, the man would have had to climb over the fencing. The rungs are an original part of the former Pittsburgh Plate smokestack, and run straight up the side from the ground to the top.

Foundation Park Conservancy President Kim Rose said the tower staircase meets “all state safety standards.”

“The tower staircase was designed and built for safety,” Rose said. “No structure can prevent a person from taking their own life if they are determined to do so. That does not diminish the tragedy of this.”

The investigation will be handled by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Daniels said, as the tower area of the park is not in the city.

In addition to MVPD, KCSO, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Mount Vernon Fire Department responded to the scene.

The News will continue to follow this story as more information is made available.