Wood County deputies identify drowning victim

7/16/2001

A South Toledo boy was identified by Wood County sheriff's deputies as the boy who apparently drowned Saturday in Clearwater Quarry swimming facility off State Rt. 163 in Wood County's Troy Township.

Kevin A. Roberts, who attended Jones Junior High School, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, authorities said.

A preliminary autopsy yesterday showed that the boy died of drowning, Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a Lucas County deputy coroner, said.

The boy was seen struggling in the water about 5 p.m. before going under. A dive team searched the quarry and brought the boy to the surface, deputies have said.

The local Red Cross chapter will conduct blood drives this week and next at the following locations:

  • Thursday - Noon to 6 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church in Oregon, 5757 Starr Ave.

  • Friday - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at One Government Center, Toledo.

  • Saturday - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hindu Temple in Sylvania, 4336 King Road.

  • July 24 - noon to 6 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Maumee, 137 Wayne St.

    Donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, be in general good health, feel well on the day of donation, and not have donated within the previous 56 days.

    The donation process takes about 90 minutes.

    SANDUSKY - A teenager led police on a chase throughout Erie County early yesterday, starting in Perkins Township south of here and ending in Lorain.

    Ohio Highway Patrol troopers from the Sandusky post were called at 5:09 a.m. to assist Perkins Township and Sandusky police, who were following a suspected stolen vehicle. Once stopped, driver Anthony Loretta, 18, of Sandusky, was arrested by state troopers for driving under the influence, fleeing and eluding, felonious assault, and reckless operations of a vehicle.

    Mr. Loretta led police east on U.S. 6 at speeds that reached 70 mph. He drove over spike sticks laid out by officers at Camp Road in Huron Township and continued with one front tire flattened. Another set of spike sticks, laid out in Vermilion, flattened the other front tire.

    Police were able to stop the vehicle by creating a roadblock of cruisers in Lorain. Before he was stopped, Mr. Loretta allegedly hit a highway patrol cruiser twice, police said, causing minor damage to the side and rear.

    The Perkins Township police charged Mr. Loretta as well as his passenger, but police would not release any additional details of the pursuit. Highway patrol officers said the suspects face charges by other agencies involved in the pursuit too.

    FREMONT - Judge Margaret Weaver of Sandusky County Common Pleas Court has ordered a defendant in a murder-for-hire case to stand trial July 23 for his alleged role.

    Judge Weaver ruled Thursday that Tyrias Johnson, 26, Fremont, can be tried on charges of attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault, intimidation of a witness, and having a weapon under disability.

    Mr. Johnson is accused of shooting Jarrod Skinner, 33, of Oak Harbor Sept. 25 after luring him to a Ballville Township farmhouse.

    Mr. Johnson's attorney, Ron Wingate, had filed a motion to have his mental competency evaluated after Mr. Johnson turned down a plea offer last month.

    Christy Claussen, 41, was sentenced April 19 to 13 years in prison for ordering the shooting. Claussen pleaded guilty in March under a plea bargain to complicity to attempted aggravated murder, for which she received 10 years, the maximum sentence, plus three years for a gun specification.