2 people die in area traffic accidents

Van Wert independent

Two people were killed in separate accidents in Van Wert and Paulding counties on Tuesday.

Nathan W. Crass, 27, of Fort Mill, S.C., died in a deer-vehicle accident that occurred on Ohio 118, south of Ohio City at approximately 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

According to an accident report from the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office, Crass was a passenger in a 2009 Ford Escape sports-utility vehicle driven by Mickey McConahay, 56, of Ohio City, that was southbound on SR 118 when the driver spotted a deer running onto the roadway and started to slow down when another deer ran out directly in front of the vehicle and came through the SUV’s windshield on the passenger’s side, landing on Crass. McConahay then pulled into a driveway at 14458 Ohio 118 and called 9-1-1.

Van Wert County Coroner Dr. Scott Jarvis declared the man dead at the scene at approximately 8:15 Tuesday morning.

A second fatality occurred on U.S. 24 in Paulding County, west of the village of Antwerp.

According to the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Czeslaw Szotek, 53, of Ontario, Canada, had parked his 2007 Volvo semi tractor-trailer rig on the side of the roadway, with about a foot of the rig protruding onto the highway.

A 2006 Freightliner semi rig operated by another Ontario resident whose name has not been released, struck the rear of the parked semi and both rigs were quickly engulfed in flames.

Szotek, who was standing outside his vehicle, suffered minor injuries when he was struck by debris from the crash and was cited for parking in the roadway.

A portion of U.S. 24 was closed for several hours while debris from the accident scene and diesel fuel were cleaned up.

Also assisting at that accident scene were the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, Paulding County Emergency Management Agency, an Antwerp EMS unit and fire departments from Crane Township, Antwerp and Woodburn, Ind.