BORDERLAND

Area man convicted 
in fatal traffic accident

12/11/2013

TIFFIN — A Bascom, Ohio man who was on trial for aggravated vehicular homicide in the traffic accident that killed a passenger was convicted Wednesday of a lesser offense.

A jury in Seneca County Common Pleas Court found Kevin Wertz, 22, guilty of vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum six-month jail sentence.

He was driving a pickup on Jackson Township Road 71A about 3:30 a.m. Oct. 27, 2012, when he failed to yield for a stop sign at County Road 1 and lost control of the vehicle, which struck a ditch and overturned.

Jacob Hohman, 20, of Bascom, who was one of three passengers, died at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center. Judge Michael Kelbley will sentence Mr. Wertz on Friday.