Although the Ohio Highway Patrol reported 18 accidents and 20 deaths on the highways statewide during the holiday weekend, Lawrence County escaped without fatalities.

Tuesday, September 07, 1999

Although the Ohio Highway Patrol reported 18 accidents and 20 deaths on the highways statewide during the holiday weekend, Lawrence County escaped without fatalities.

"Between Friday and Monday the 6th, we investigated 19 crashes," said P. Baire, OHP dispatcher. "Of those, 10 were accidents with injuries, but they were minor injuries. We didn’t have any serious injuries."

The 19 county traffic accidents are above average for a weekend, but about normal for a holiday weekend, Baire added.

"It’s about average for us for a holiday weekend, but compared to a regular weekend, traffic was a lot heavier, so in that respect, it was above average," he said. "Luckily, I don’t think we even had any fatalities in the whole district."

Drivers in other regions, however, were involved in crashes that ended in fatalities, OHP officials said.

At least 20 people died in traffic accidents in Ohio over the long Labor Day weekend, according to traffic reports and information compiled by The Associated Press.

That was one fewer than the 21 killed during the same 96-hour period in 1998. The patrol counted fatalities from Friday through Monday.

The victims of fatal crashes include:

Monday

Logan – David L. Ford, 37, of Logan, in a two-vehicle, headon crash on a rural Hocking County road.

Columbus – Andre Jackson, 23, of Columbus, in a two-vehicle collision at an intersection in Columbus.

Warren – Joshua A. Landis, 12, of Warren, in a two-car crash on Ohio 11 in Trumbull County.

Mansfield – William Seavers Jr., 38, of Mansfield, hit by a car while riding a bicycle on a city street.

Sunday

Ravenna – Wasyl Lahoszniak, 78, of Parma, driver in a two-car accident on Ohio 88 in Portage County.

Delaware – Olin D. Shoup, 41, of Orrville, driver in one-vehicle crash on Interstate 71 in Delaware County.

Zanesville – Shelly J. Stackhouse, 18, of Chandlersville, driver in a one-car accident on a township road in Muskingum County.

Bucyrus – William E. Lucas, 75, of Tiffin, a driver in a two-vehicle crash on Ohio 294 in Crawford County.

Saturday

Granville – Michael W. Anderson, 18, of Newark, driver in a two-car crash on a Licking County road.

Circleville – John Mull, 75, and Margaret Mitchell, 61, both of Bradenton, Fla., hit by cars and trucks after falling from the back of a pickup truck being towed on Interstate 71 in Pickaway County.

Toledo – Sharon Spaythe-Phalen, 50, of Toledo, hit by a car while riding a bike on a Toledo street.

Akron – Richard A. Lappert, 18, of Hinckley, driver in a one-car accident on Interstate 77 in Summit County, near Akron.

Columbus – Georgetta L. Dave, 31, of Columbus, a driver in a one-car accident on a city street.

Friday

Findlay – Chad E. Daugherty, 18, of McComb, a driver, and Matthew R. Copus, 17, of Van Buren, a passenger, in a two-vehicle crash on a Hancock County road.

Ravenna – David A. Nottingham, 31, of Kent, driver in a two-car accident on Ohio 5 in Portage County.

Defiance – Ronald L. Hostettler, 30, of Edgerton, driver of a motorcycle that crashed on a Defiance County Road.

Toledo – Eleanor M. Paul, 66, of Flint, Mich., a passenger in a van that struck a tractor-trailer on the Ohio Turnpike.

Sandusky – Melanie Wrobbel, 42, of Put-in-Bay, driver of a pickup truck that hit a tractor-trailer on Ohio 2 in Erie County.