Toledoan charged with damaging soybean field

8/29/2005

Oregon police tracked down a motorist and are looking for others who drove through a farmer s soybean field when traffic snarled early yesterday at the 40th German-American Festival.

Jason Menard, 28, of Overland Parkway, Toledo, was charged with reckless operation.

Sgt. Ed Depinet said Mr. Menard was located yesterday at his house after a witness saw his vehicle in the field and gave police the license plate number.

He was just one of numerous cars that went down that path the cars made, Sergeant Depinet said. On Saturday, after the festival ended at midnight and traffic began to back up, someone cut a wire fence and cars began driving through the bean field adjacent to Oak Shade Grove.

Vehicles drove across some 100 yards of the soybean field east of the festival site on Seaman Road, police said.