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Trumbull Commissioner Heltzel injured in crash
By ED Runyan
LAgrange, Ind.
Paul Heltzel, Trumbull County commissioner, suffered a broken leg on Thursday when the vehicle in which he was riding was involved in a single-car crash on Interstate 80.
Heltzel, 66, of North Rhodes Avenue, Niles, was a rear-seat passenger in a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban heading eastbound that slipped off the road in the passing lane and struck a guardrail head-on.
Heltzel and the others were returning from a quail-hunting trip in Wisconsin at the time, fellow Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda said.
Indiana State police said in the accident report that the front-seat passenger in the vehicle felt that the driver, Eugene F. Benyo, 66, of Fairview Road, Austintown, had fallen asleep. Police had not interviewed Benyo because of the severe nature of his injuries.
The crash occurred at 6 p.m., about 30 miles west of the Ohio line near LaGrange, Ind. All four men in the vehicle were taken to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind., for treatment.
Heltzel and Benyo were still at the hospital on Tuesday morning. The hospital had no information on the two other men.
Benyo suffered severe bleeding and severe injuries to his knee and lower leg and foot, state police said.
Three of the men, including Heltzel, were wearing seat belts. None were ejected from the vehicle.
James R. Henline, 54, of a different address on Fairview Road in Austintown, suffered from severe bleeding and injuries to his elbow and lower arm.
Stanley P. Feret, 51, of Olde Charted Trail, Poland, complained of back pain. He was not wearing a seat belt.
State police said the vehicle traveled about 70 feet into the guard rail, rotated 180 degrees and came back to rest in the passing lane.
As the vehicle traveled into the guard rail, it sheered off the rail from its base, state police said.
Damage to the guard rail and vehicle was estimated at between $25,000 and $50,000.
After Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting, Fuda and Commissioner Dan Polivka said they believe Heltzel will be back in Trumbull County and back at work by next week.