Fatal crash driver facing more charges

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A out-of-state man serving jail time locally for his role in a fatal crash that claimed two Van Wert County men last fall is facing a new set of unrelated felony charges.

Timothy Kiester, 61 of Berrien Springs, Michigan, is charged with pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, and pandering obscenity involving a minor, both second degree felonies; pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, and pandering obscenity involving a minor, both fourth degree felonies, and illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material or performance, a fifth degree felony.

According to a report from the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office, Kiester was served with warrants Thursday at the Van Wert County Correctional Facility. No other information was available, and the charges are not listed on the Van Wert County Clerk of Courts website or Van Wert Municipal Court website. More information is expected to be made available next week.

Kiester is currently serving 90 days in the Van Wert County Correctional Facility, after pleading no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter, both second degree misdemeanors. The sentence was handed down February 26.

In addition to local jail time, his driver’s license was suspended for two years, retroactive to January 14, the date when Kiester entered his plea. He was also fined $750 on each of the two counts of vehicular manslaughter and was fined an additional $150 on a single count of assured clear distance.

The maximum penalty on each vehicular manslaughter charge was up to 90 days in jail, a $750 fine and a mandatory license suspension of six months to two years.

The charges were tied to a fatal crash that occurred October 21, 2024, on U.S. 127 near Hickory Sticks Golf Course in Van Wert. Kiester was operating a 2016 Cheverolet Silverado that was hauling a camper, when he allegedly failed to maintain assured clear distance ahead. His truck struck the rear of a 2016 Ford Focus driven by Zachary J. Wood, 30, of Convoy. The impact forced Wood’s car into the path of a semi-truck.

Wood and a passenger, Logan G. Elder, 29, of Van Wert, were pronounced dead at the scene.