An Indiana semi-tractor trailer rig driver was arraigned yesterday on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide following a fatal accident on Central Avenue near Secor Metropark Sunday morning.
Eric Clapper, 37, of Muncie, Ind., was arraigned in Sylvania Municipal Court on the charge that could send him to jail for up to five years if convicted.
Authorities say Mr. Clapper was eastbound on Central when he crossed into the westbound lane and then onto the westbound shoulder. An oncoming westbound motorist, Dr. Bruce Van Wey, swerved into the eastbound lane to avoid the truck.
But then Mr. Clapper corrected and returned to the eastbound lane, where the truck struck Dr. Van Wey's Chevrolet Corsica head-on.
The force of the crash threw Dr. Van Wey from his car. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It all comes down to why he was in the left-hand lane,” said Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper Tim Coll.
Trooper Coll would not comment further on the “reckless circumstances” that led to the third-degree felony charges, though he noted weather, alcohol, and excessive speed were not factors. The trooper would not comment on how long Mr. Clapper had been driving that day but said he was an experienced truck driver.
Dr. Van Wey, a 52-year-old Toledo native and Whitmer High School graduate, had a dental practice in Elyria, but spent most weekends in Toledo with his family. He was out for a morning drive before heading to Washington Church in West Toledo, family members said.
There were no witnesses to the accident. Skid marks indicate Mr. Clapper had been traveling in the wrong lane shortly before 8:30 a.m. in the seconds before his rig and Dr. Van Wey's car collided west of the metropark, between Raab and Langenderfer roads. Mr. Clapper, who made a “pretty vague” statement to investigators later, was hauling potatoes, Trooper Coll said.
Kay Langenderfer, who called 911 after hearing the collision from her parents' home nearby, said she could see the tractor-trailer's tire marks in the snow - on the wrong side of the road - near the accident scene. Ms. Langenderfer said it appeared the driver had drifted off the road temporarily and then returned to his lane.
“You could see just a very little bit [of track marks] in the snow over the road,” she said.
After a brief appearance yesterday in front of Sylvania Muncipal Court Judge M. Scott Ramey, Mr. Clapper posted a $10,000 bond and was released from the Lucas County jail. He is to reappear in court Friday.
First Published March 4, 2003, 11:31 a.m.