Tiffin man sentenced for deadly party

3/31/2005

TIFFIN - A Tiffin man was sentenced yesterday to 180 days in jail for giving beer to area teenagers at his home during a party, including a boy who later was killed by a tow truck on U.S. 224.

Ronald C. Ransom III, 23, was sentenced to the maximum jail term by Judge Paul Kutscher of the Juvenile Division of Seneca County Common Pleas Court. Mr. Ransom pleaded no contest in January to one count of contributing to the delinquency of minors, a misdemeanor.

Douglas Biddle, 17, of Tiffin, died Nov. 2, 2003, when he stepped in front of the truck while walking along the highway after leaving the party.

The truck that hit the teenager was returning from answering a call from another underage guest at the party who had locked a set of keys in a vehicle, Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr., said.

Toxicology tests showed that young Biddle had a blood-alcohol level of 0.259 percent. A motorist in Ohio is considered to be legally intoxicated with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent.