Arson charges against OC man dismissed

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Criminal charges have been dismissed against an Ohio City man accused of setting a series of fires in Van Wert County earlier this year.

According to a joint press release issued Thursday afternoon by Van Wert County Sheriff Tom Riggenbach and Van Wert County Prosecutor Eva Yarger, the results of a competency evaluation by the Court Diagnostic Treatment Center in Toledo led to a determination that Scott Keber, 31, is incompetent to stand trial, non-restorable.

“In order to stand trial, a defendant must be competent,” the release stated. “If a defendant is found to be incompetent, it must be determined if competency can be restored, and if so, a defendant may be held pending that restoration. If competency cannot be restored, the Ohio Revised Code requires the court to order the discharge of the defendant, unless the court or the prosecutor seeks a civil commitment of the defendant.”

“The court or the state may then request an involuntary civil commitment of the defendant if the defendant is a person with an intellectual disability subject to institutionalization by court order,” Riggenbach and Yarger said in the press release. “If the defendant is not found to be subject to institutionalization by court order, the Ohio Revised Code requires that the court dismiss the indictment against the defendant and discharge the defendant. The state can take no further criminal action against this type of defendant.”

The release also noted that Keber is not subject to institutionalization, which led the dismissal of 18 aggravated arson and arson charges against him.

The fires in question were set in January, February and March of this year, including a massive blaze at Gina Dairy near Ohio City.