Van Wert man is sentenced in bid to beat train

7/25/2002

VAN WERT - A 19-year-old Van Wert man was sentenced yesterday in Van Wert County Common Pleas for trying to beat a train at a crossing, causing injuries to himself and a passenger.

Judge Charles Steele ordered Kelly Pearson of Van Wert to spend a year on probation for a charge of misdemeanor assault, which had been reduced from vehicular assault. The judge suspended a six-month jail term and $1,000 fine in lieu of the probation.

Witnesses told police it appeared Pearson was trying to beat a train on Jan. 12, when his vehicle was struck on North Harrison Street by a westbound train. Both Pearson and his passenger, Jarod Delgado, 17, of Rockford, Ohio, were injured.

The train made an emergency stop east of the Washington Street crossing. Officers responded to the accident on foot because the crossings were blocked in both directions for several blocks.