1 killed, 1 injured in motorcycle crash

11/13/2012

HASKINS, Ohio — The Ohio Highway Patrol is investigating an incident in which a Perrysburg man was killed and another was injured Saturday when a car turned left in front of their motorcycles in Wood County’s Middleton Township.

David Gartz, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene. Paul LeCompte, 45, was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital, Maumee, according to the patrol.

Mr. Gartz and Mr. LeCompte were riding their motorcycles side by side on southbound State Rt. 65 east of Forst Road when a northbound car driven by Noel Clifton, 21, of Toledo, did not yield as it tried to turn left into a driveway, according to the patrol.

Mr. Gartz’s motorcycle struck the right rear of the car, and he was thrown to the road, troopers said. Mr. LeCompte laid his motorcycle on the ground to avoid a collision.

Neither man wore a helmet. Ms. Clifton was not injured; she wore a seat belt.

Mr. Gartz, who was a service manager at Pugh Heating and Air Conditioning in Holland, is survived by his wife, Donna; daughter, Ashley; father, Dwight; brothers, Jeff and Brian; and sister, Brenda Gartz.