Man crashed into Courthouse Square sculpture after apparent drug overdose

Staff report

WARREN

Artist Doug Meyer of Warren says he will fix up the 12-foot-long bicycle sculpture/bike rack in front of Trumbull Family Fitness and restore it to the same location where a man crashed into it Tuesday afternoon, apparently from a drug overdose.

“I’m mighty disappointed that the heroin epidemic is as bad as it is,” Meyer said Wednesday as he stood near the half of the sculpture still standing. “I’ve already lost a stepbrother last year and friends of friends.”

Brett Starcher, 30, of Fowler Township, drove his pickup truck into the sculpture at 1:37 p.m. Tuesday, police said. It is one of four sculptures Meyer was commissioned to create with money from an Ohio Arts Council grant awarded to the nonprofit Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership for a public art display.

Trumbull Family Fitness is the former YMCA downtown, 210 High St. NW, and is next door to the Trumbull County Administration Building in a prominent Courthouse Square location.

When two deputy sheriffs arrived at the crash, they found Starcher unconscious, but he revived after getting multiple doses of the opiate-reversal drug naloxone. He was taken to the hospital for treatment but didn’t go to jail.

Police found a syringe on the dashboard of the truck, plus a bindle of suspected heroin and a large knife concealed under the driver’s seat.

Starcher was charged Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court with possession of drug abuse instruments, carrying a concealed weapon, driving under suspension and reckless operation.

After the drugs are analyzed by a state crime lab, Starcher could face a felony drug possession charge. He is scheduled for arraignment May 17.

Fellow artist and Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership employee Carl Henneman said he believes putting the sculpture back in the same place will serve as a symbol of the determination of the people here to overcome the drug crisis.

“I’d like to show in the face of it, that we’ll keep going. It will be a symbol of survival. I believe this will lift the spirits of the community.”

TNP provided Meyer with $300 so far to repair the sculpture, and TNP will accept donations to provide additional funds, said Matt Martin, TNP executive director.