Patrol probes Defiance County crashes

Ohio State Highway Patrol information

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating two crashes in Defiance County, one of them involving a fatality that occurred near the village of Sherwood.

In that accident, which occurred at approximately 5:20 p.m. Friday, troopers said a 2006 Pontiac Torrent driven by Dawn Murphy, 53, of Toledo, was westbound on Buckskin Road and failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Openlander Road. Her vehicle was then hit broadside by a northbound 2011 GMC Terrain operated by Wade Rethmel, 28, of Sherwood, causing both vehicles to overturn several times as they slewed off the northwest corner of the intersection.

Murphy did not survive the collision, while Rethmel was taken via ProMedica Air Ambulance to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both drivers were wearing safety belts.

The Patrol was also assisted at the scene by the Defiance County Sheriff’s Office and Sherwood Fire and EMS.

A second accident occurred in Hicksville Township at around 12:17 this morning. According to troopers from the Defiance Post, a silver Cadillac CTS driven by Oscar Pieper, 58, of Paulding, was headed east on Ohio 18 when he ran the car into the side of a trailer that was being backed into a private drive by Justin Binder, 21, of Hicksville, who was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

Neither Binder nor his passengers, Krysha Alexander, 19, of Monroeville, Indiana; and Hicksville residents Trisha and Mike Kimple, both 27, were injured in the crash.

Pieper and his wife, Susan, 57, were transported by life-flight helicopter to Parkview Regional Medical Center, where they are in stable condition.

All those involved were wearing seat belts. The crash remains under investigation.

Assisting the Patrol at the scene were the Hicksville Police Department, Defiance County Sheriff’s Office, Hicksville Fire and EMS and ProMedica Air Ambulance and Samaritan Life Flight.