Monthly Archives: June 2020

NFL Player Arrested For OVI After PIB Crash

An NFL player from Toledo is facing charges after crashing his car into Lake Erie.

Put-in-Bay police say Jeremiah Braswell was arrested for OVI this past weekend.

Braswell is accused of driving off a road at high speeds, causing his Camaro to fly off an embankment and into the water.

Police say as they went into the water and approached the car, Braswell was still in the driver’s seat trying to drive forward.

He told officers he was “stuck” and didn’t know what happened.

No injuries were reported.

Braswell is a graduate of Central Catholic High School and is a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals.

(pictures courtesy of the Put-in-Bay Police Department)

Motorcyclist Flown To Hospital After Hitting Deer

A man was life-flighted from the scene of a motorcycle crash in Hancock County.

The crash happened on State Route 235 near Township Road 38, just north of Mount Cory, at around 10:35 Sunday night.

The sheriff’s office says Ryan Blackburn, 45, of Mount Cory, was driving his Harley Davidson south on State Route 235 when a deer ran onto the roadway.

Blackburn’s Harley struck the deer and he was thrown from the motorcycle.

Blackburn was flown to St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo by Life Flight.

The sheriff’s office says he was not wearing a helmet.

The crash remains under investigation.

 

Putnam County Fair A Success Despite Challenges

The Putnam County Fair ended with a bang on Saturday with the demolition derby.

We spoke with Joseph Karhoff, director of the Putnam County Fair Board, as the derby was being held in the distance.

He said, given the circumstances, the fair went off as good as they could’ve hoped for.

Admission was free this year, and he says, while they didn’t have rides or games at the fair this year, what they did have was a lot of good people who came out to enjoy the fair and donated some money on their way in.

Karhoff (on the far right in the picture below) thanked all the patrons, sponsors and volunteers for helping make this year’s fair a success despite the unique challenges the pandemic presented.

Ohio Drive-In Doing Brisk Business During Pandemic

(ONN) – With many movie theaters still closed the Aut-O-Rama drive-in theater in North Ridgeville, in northeast Ohio, was the fifth-highest-grossing movie theater in the country.

Owner Tim Sherman says people still love going to drive-ins, which are a slice of Americana, especially in Ohio which has about two dozen left.

“It’s just something they’ve done in the past, they know what it is and they’re reaching out to something they’re familiar with.”

He says the Aut-O-Rama sold $60,000 worth of tickets during a recent weekend in which Jaws and Jurassic Park were among the films being shown.

 

Victim Suffers Life-Threatening Injuries In Findlay Assault

The Findlay Police Department is investigating an assault that left a victim with life-threatening injuries.

Police responded to the 1800 block of Camelot Lane at 8:22 Friday night on the report of an unconscious male lying in the street.

The victim, later identified as Brenden D. Martin, was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital by Hanco EMS and then transferred to St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo.

Police say Martin was assaulted by an unknown suspect who fled the scene.

An investigation is ongoing.

Anyone who may have information on the assault is urged to call the Findlay Police Department at 419-424-7150.

 

One Hospitalized, One Arrested After Crash In Findlay

One driver was taken to a hospital and the other was arrested after a crash in Findlay.

The crash happened at around 4:20 Friday afternoon on Blanchard Avenue near Sixth Street.

The Findlay Police Department says Steven Gault, 30, of Wharton, was driving eastbound on Blanchard Avenue in a Dodge Dakota pickup truck when he went left of center to pass traffic that was waiting behind a stopped UPS truck.

Police say Gault passed the stopped traffic without due regard to safety and struck a Dodge Charger head-on.

The driver of the Charger, Eric Smith, 44, of Findlay, was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital with a minor head injury.

Police cited Gault for no driver’s license and overtaking left of center, and he was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene.

Millstream Speedway Reopening With New Promoter

Millstream Speedway says they’re reopening their famed clay half-mile.

The 2020 dirt racing events will be led by new promoter Scott Warner.

“It was time to get it reopened, there were so many people who wanted to see it reopened and I’m just a big race fan who wanted to see the track reopened.”

Warner says he went to races there as a kid and then raced there himself.

He says the 2020 season will feature sprint cars, stock cars, and late models.

Warner says social distancing guidelines won’t be a problem because the speedway has plenty of grass areas where people can bring a lawn chair and spread out and enjoy the action.

Keeping with tradition, he says the races will be on Sunday nights beginning in late August.

We also spoke with the owner of the speedway, who told us that one of the traditions they’re bringing back is allowing people to stake out their claim on the hills ahead of race day.

Millstream Speedway is at 7805 Township Road 95 west of Findlay.

Get more on the speedway’s reopening here. 

Woman Life-Flighted From Scene Of Hancock County Crash

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says a passenger was life-flighted from the scene of rollover crash across from Riverdale High School.

The sheriff’s office says Darren Wallace, 34, of Kenton, was driving north on State Route 37 at around 7:30 Friday morning when he went into the ditch at the curve in front of the high school.

His SUV hit the Riverdale sign and then went airborne and rolled into a field.

The sheriff’s office says a passenger, Autuam Good, 34, of Kenton, was thrown from the vehicle and landed in the field.

Good was taken to St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo by medical helicopter.

The crash remains under investigation.

 

Petition Calls For Columbus Statue To Be Replaced By Chef Boyardee

(ONN) – Some people want to replace the Christopher Columbus statue in the Little Italy neighborhood in Cleveland with a statue of a local and national icon.

A petition on Change.org is calling for a statue of Ettore Boiardi to replace Columbus.

The man was better known as Chef Boyardee, who founded the pasta brand that bears his name in the 1920s.

By then he had opened a restaurant in Cleveland, where he moved to when he was a child.

One part of the petition reads, ‘it’s time for Cleveland to tear down its statue to a genocidal sociopath and erect a statue to an immigrant success story.’

 

Hancock County Tire Recycling Event

The Hancock County Solid Waste Management District is holding a Tire Amnesty Day on Saturday.

The recycling event will be held in the back lot of the Educational Service Center at 7746 County Road 140, Findlay.

The event is free for Hancock County residents.

The guidelines are:

-Hancock County Resident must be 16+ years
-Limit up to four (4) tires each
-Tires must be 17 inch or less and must be off the rim
-Proof of Hancock County residency required
-No Businesses
-Transporting more than 9 tires in a single vehicle requires an Ohio EPA transporter license.

This event is on Saturday, June 27th and is sponsored by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company and the Hancock County Solid Waste Management District.

Get more details here.