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Friday, 30 November 2007 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
A St. Marys woman faces three criminal charges in the death of a Wapakoneta woman who served as the administrative assistant to the city’s safety-service director.
An Auglaize County grand jury indicted Alissa L. Townsend, 48, 1109 Nagel St., on one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony, one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony, and one count of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs of abuse, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Second-degree aggravated vehicular homicide differs from third-degree aggravated vehicular homicide, according to the Ohio Revised Code, if the operator of the motor vehicle was driving with a suspended license or found guilty of a specific section regarding vehicular crimes.
Townsend previously pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs of abuse (OVI) and had her operator’s license suspended for a period of time.
Grand jury met Thursday and her bond was set at $400,000 with a 10 percent cash provision during a court hearing the same day.
At approximately 12:50 p.m., Nov. 17, Townsend was driving east on U.S. 33 at an excessive rate of speed when she hit the rear of a 2000 Honda CRV driven by Heather Schaub, 40, of Wapakoneta, law enforcement reports indicate. Schaub’s vehicle crossed the median, flipped and stopped in westbound lanes of U.S. 33 near an overpass for County Road 33A, west of Wapakoneta.
Schaub, who was ejected from the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene by Auglaize County Coroner Dr. Thomas Freytag.
Her son, Fletcher T. Schaub, 3, survived the two-car collision. He was fastened in a child safety seat in the back seat of Schaub’s vehicle. Wapakoneta Rescue Squad transported Fletcher to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima. He was treated and released on Nov. 18.
Schaub served as admininstrative assistant to Wapakoneta Safety-Service Director Rex Katterheinrich for the past nine years. Municipal Court records indicate Townsend was cited for speed unreasonable for conditions by St. Marys Police officers in 2000, and cited for speeding by troopers with the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 2001. Troopers listed her traveling at 67 mph in a 55 mph zone.
On Jan. 26, 2006, Townsend pleaded no contest before Judge Gary Herman in Auglaize County Municipal Court to operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs of abuse for an incident in September 2005, according to court records. She tested greater than a 0.08 blood-alcohol level but less than 0.17 blood-alcohol level.
Charges of child endangerment, a first-degree misdemeanor, and open container, a minor misdemeanor, were dismissed during plea negotiations between Townsend’s attorney Eric Wilson of St. Marys and assistant prosecutors with the Auglaize County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Townsend faces a maximum sentence of 12 years, 6 months in prison and a fine of $26,000 if convicted of all charges in connection with Schaub’s death. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 03 December 2007 )
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