{"id":196998,"date":"2025-09-11T20:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T01:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=196998"},"modified":"2025-09-13T00:29:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T05:29:05","slug":"woman-charged-in-accident-others-make-court-appearances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/09\/11\/woman-charged-in-accident-others-make-court-appearances\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman charged in accident in court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A local woman charged in connection with a fatal accident made her first appearance in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara Nickles, 66, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to vehicular homicide, a first degree misdemeanor. Released on surety bond with work related driving privileges and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. October 8.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The charge stems from 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\u2019s parking lot and began to accelerate in reverse at a high rate of speed from her marked parking space. The 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 passed away August 11. There was no evidence that showed the incident was intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If ultimately convicted, Nickles faces up to six months in the county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

12 other criminal hearings, including seven other arraignments took place between Friday, September 5, and Wednesday, September 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheradin Conrad, 35, of Paulding, entered a not guilty plea to two counts of aggravated possession of drugs, fifth degree felonies. Bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 9 a.m. October 8. Prior to that, Conrad admitted violating her bond by failing a drug screen and driving while under suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Partin, 32, of Van Wert, pleaded not guilty to domestic violence, a fourth degree felony. Bond was set at $50,000 cash or surety and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. October 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jadyn Bullinger, 21, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea on a superceding indictment of two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, felonies  of the third degree.Bullinger was released on a surety bond and Judge Burchfield scheduled a pre-trial conference for 8:30 a.m. October 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zachary Craig, 46, of Van Wert, pleaded not guilty to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth degree felony. He was released on a surety bond and a pre-trial conference was set for 8 a.m. October 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Coble, 40, of Willshire, entered a not guilty plea to intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case, a third degree felony. He was released on surety bond and was ordered to have no contact with victim. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. October 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brianna Saxton, 29, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth degree felony. She was released on a surety bond and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. October 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason Imler, 18, of Van Wert, pleaded not guilty plea to possession of cocaine, a fifth degree felony. He was released on a surety bond and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. October 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four people were sentenced for various crimes on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin Blom, 34, of Van Wert, was sentenced to 4-6 years in prison for  aggravated possession of drugs, a second degree felony. He was given credit for 29 days already served and was ordered to pay court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke (Ebel) Blom, 44, of Van Wert, was sentenced to 4-6 years in prison for  aggravated possession of drugs, a second degree felony, and 30 months for tampering with evidence, a third degree felony. The sentences will be served concurrently and she was given credit for six days served. She was also ordered to pay court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayden Odenweller, 19, of Van Wert, was sentenced to 18 months on each of two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, fourth degree felonies. The sentences will run concurrently and he was given credit for 93 days already served. He was ordered to pay court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber Busch, 42, of Lima, was sentenced 90 days in jail and was ordered to pay court costs for non-support of dependents, a fifth degree felony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor A local woman charged in connection with a fatal accident made her first appearance in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday. Barbara Nickles, 66, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to vehicular homicide, a first degree misdemeanor. Released on surety bond with work related driving privileges and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 08:42:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196998"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197067,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196998\/revisions\/197067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}