Plea changed in vehicular homicide case

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A Van Wert woman facing a misdemeanor charge filed after a fatal accident has changed her plea.

Barbara Nickles, 66, appeared in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Wednesday morning and changed her plea from not guilty to no contest to a single count of vehicular homicide, a first degree misdemeanor. Judge Martin D. Burchfield then found Nickles guilty of the charge and scheduled sentencing for November 19. She faces up to six months in the county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. Other penalties include probation and/or suspension of driving privileges.

The charge is tied to a July 28 accident in the parking lot of Ruler Foods in Van Wert. An accident report from the Van Wert Police Department said  Nickles was operating a 2023 Cadillac XT5 while in the grocery store’s parking lot, when she began to accelerate in reverse at a high rate of speed from her marked parking space. The accident report stated she struck the pedestrian, later identified by a family member as Omar Sites, causing him to collide with another parked motor vehicle, which resulted in serious injuries. After striking Sites, Nickles continued to operate her vehicle at a high rate of speed in reverse, causing damage to multiple parked motor vehicles.

Sites, who was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital, passed away August 11. There was no evidence that showed the incident was intentional.

Nickles was initially charged in Van Wert Municipal Court with vehicular assault, a fourth degree felony, and negligent assault, a third degree misdemeanor. The case was bound over to a Van Wert County grand jury, but its members opted against a felony charge.