Ex-mayor is charged in fatal January crash

3/30/2004

TIFFIN - Former Findlay Mayor John Stozich has been charged with vehicular manslaughter stemming from a Jan. 16 crash that killed a New Riegel woman.

Cynthia A. Brown, 35, was eastbound on U.S. 224 about seven miles west of Tiffin when Mr. Stozich, who was southbound on Seneca County Road 7, failed to yield at the stop sign at U.S. 224 and collided with Mrs. Brown's car. Mr. Stozich's car also struck a northbound pickup stopped for the stop sign on County Road 7, but the driver was not injured.

The charge against Mr. Stozich, 76, was filed last week in Tiffin Municipal Court by the Ohio Highway Patrol, although he has not yet been served and no court date has been set, according to the court. The charge is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a $750 fine.

Mr. Stozich, who was injured in the crash, is a former Findlay High School teacher and coach. He served five terms in the Ohio House of Representatives and was appointed director of the Ohio Department of Industrial Relations in the Voinovich administration.

He completed his second term as Findlay mayor at the end of 2003.