5 teens face charges of drinking as a result of probe of fatal Henry County crash

7/27/2007

NAPOLEON - Five juveniles were charged last week with underage consumption of alcohol following an investigation into the July 4 crash that killed two Holgate High School girls' basketball players and hurt another, authorities said.

More arrests are expected within the next week, including charges against adults, Henry County Sheriff John Nye said.

He declined to specify the number of arrests expected.

Richard Fisher, chief assistant to the county prosecutor, would not release the names of the juveniles charged.

Four males and a female, all Henry County residents, were charged but have not appeared in court, Sheriff Nye said.

One male juvenile also was charged with providing the alcohol consumed, providing the residence for the party, and tampering with evidence.

The single-car accident about 1:15 a.m. on Henry County Road Y, between county Roads 17 and 18 in Pleasant Township, killed Liza Catherine Clady, 17, of New Bavaria, Ohio, who was driving the car, and Tara Brooke Giesige, 15, of Holgate, who was riding in the back seat.

Hannah Stevens, 15, of New Bavaria, who was riding in the front seat, was hurt in the crash, but released from the hospital a day after the accident.

The car was traveling southeast on Road Y when it failed to round a curve and went onto the north shoulder. The driver overcorrected and the car veered across the road's south side, overturned, and struck a utility pole, according to a sheriff's office report.

Results from toxicology tests to determine if Miss Clady had been drinking the night of the crash are pending, Sheriff Nye said.