MP woman dies, 5 hurt in 2 crashes

OSHP information

A Middle Point woman was killed and five people were injured in two separate accidents in Van Wert County over the weekend.

Geneva Lambert, 90, was pronounced dead at Van Wert County Hospital, where she was taken following an accident that occurred at the intersection of Chenoweth Road and Lincoln Highway at approximately 11:35 Sunday morning.

According to troopers from the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Lambert was operating a 2012 Buick that was stopped in the northbound lane of Chenoweth Road at Lincoln Highway when a 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup truck driven east on Lincoln Highway by Lisa Hundley, 32, no address listed, went off the roadway and hit the Lambert auto broadside. The force of the impact drove the Buick into a telephone pole, where it came to rest, while the Hundley vehicle continued on into a cornfield and stopped there.

Hundley and a passenger in her vehicle, Dekota R. Thomas, 13, received minor injuries and were also taken to the local hospital by the Middle Point EMS.

Troopers said safety belts were in use at the time of the crash, which remains under investigation at this time.

Also assisting at the scene were deputies from the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Department and Middle Point firefighters.

A two-vehicle accident that occurred at approximately 9 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of State Road and Ohio 66 injured three people.

Troopers from the Van Wert Patrol post said a 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Sherry Mattis of Lima was headed east on State Road when she failed to yield the right-of-way at the intersection with Ohio 66 and her vehicle was hit in the driver’s side by a southbound 1994 Ford F-150 pickup truck operated by Robin Schindler, also of Lima.

The occupants of both vehicles required mechanical extraction by the Delphos Fire Department and both drivers and a passenger in the Schindler vehicle, Mark Bird of Spencerville were taken to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, where they were treated for nonlife-threatening injuries.

Troopers said alcohol was not a factor in the crash and both drivers were wearing seatbelts, although Bird did not have a seatbelt on.

Mattis was cited for failure to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic, but troopers are still investigating the accident.