Grader operator dies in Sandusky mishap
6/11/2004SANDUSKY - A 45-year-old northwest Ohio construction worker died after he was run over by the grader tractor he was operating at the new Cold Creek Crossing subdivision Wednesday evening.
Todd M. Jones, an employee of Underground Utilities Inc. in Monroeville, Ohio, jumped off the tractor to try to restart it after it stalled, according to Sandusky Police Chief Robert Runner.
But the tractor was still in gear and when it started, it felled him and passed over his chest, Dr. Tom Nesgoda, Erie County coroner, said.
Emergency workers tried to resuscitate the stricken Mr. Jones of Norwalk, but he was pronounced dead at Firelands Regional Medical Center at 6:24 p.m.
Mr. Jones was one of at least three people working at the site on Ferndale Drive near Walnut Ridge Drive on Sandusky's west side when the accident happened about 6 p.m., Chief Runner said.
Sandusky County sells
senior housing complex
FREMONT - The Sandusky County commissioners agreed yesterday to sell the Fort Stephenson senior citizen housing complex on West State Street.
The commissioners accepted a bid of $1,010,000, submitted last week by Kenneth Humbard and Kathy Burkin.
The pair said at the time they planned to continue operating the building, which has 56 apartment units, as a subsidized housing complex for senior citizens.
The commissioners plan to put the proceeds from the sale in the county's permanent improvements fund.
Bellevue man indicted
for alleged drug sales
FREMONT - A Bellevue, Ohio, man has been indicted on three felony charges related to alleged drug sales.
Earl Potts was charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine and one count of failure to comply with the signal of a police officer.
According to authorities, Mr. Potts sold cocaine on March 24 and April 1, both times at his Gardner Street residence.
Authorities also allege that Mr. Potts fled Sandusky County sheriff's deputies who served a search warrant at his home on April 3, leading law enforcement officers on a chase into Seneca County.
He was scheduled for trial July 26 before Judge James Sherck in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court.
Bond is set at $250,000
for accused rapist of girl
FINDLAY - Bond was set at $250,000 yesterday for Randall J. Evans, 43, who is charged with raping a 12-year-old girl who had known him for about a month.
Mr. Evans, who is accused of raping the girl in his apartment on Putnam Street here, remained in the Hancock County jail last night.
His next scheduled appearance on the charge, a first-degree felony, is at a preliminary hearing Thursday in Findlay Municipal Court.
Lima man is sentenced
for vandalism in Bluffton
LIMA, Ohio - A local man was sentenced yesterday to 90 days in jail for vandalizing computers and buses at Bluffton High School in 2001.
Richard L. Warren, 21, also was ordered by Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard K. Warren to pay $10,787 in restitution.
Warren was charged with vandalism after blood samples taken from a cracked bus windshield linked him to the crime, said Dan Berry, chief assistant Allen County prosecutor.
In his police statement, Warren said another individual took part in cracking 10 bus windshields and damaging nearly a dozen computers, Mr. Berry said.
The vandals caused about $36,000 damage, authorities said.
The accomplice has not yet been charged, Mr. Berry said.