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Man indicted in alcohol-related crash that left woman with vertebrae injuries
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Daniel T. Lesh II, 34, of state Route 82 in Newton Falls, will be arraigned Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on aggravated vehicular assault involving a crash that left a woman with vertebrae injuries.
Lesh could get about five years in prison if convicted. He also is indicted on two counts of drunken driving, both from the crash. Lesh’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.278, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.
One of the drunken-driving charges relates to alcohol in his blood. The other alleges he was “under the influence of alcohol, drug of abuse, or a combination of them,” according to his indictment. The highway patrol said medical records obtained for Lesh indicated he did not have drugs in his system, but an ambulance worker told troopers Lesh admitted he had taken the drug Percocet that night.
The patrol, which investigated, said Lesh’s car rear-ended a car driven by a Canfield woman, 30, who was stopped at the red light at state Route 46 and the private driveway to the Home Depot in Howland at 1:24 a.m. June 17.
Lesh told a trooper he hit the back of another car but wouldn’t say where he had been before the crash. He was slurring his words, the trooper said.
The driver of the other vehicle said the collision felt like Lesh had hit her “full speed.” She and her sister both had on seat belts.
The driver was later diagnosed with vertebrae injuries.
ANIMAL-CRUELTY CASE
Also indicted is Marketa L. Jackson, 39, of Haymaker Street Southwest, on misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and prohibitions concerning companion animals.
Her case, which was bound over to the grand jury as a felony, was sent back to Warren Municipal Court as misdemeanors.
Warren police were called to Jackson’s home Nov. 9 and found her dog, Tinkers, standing half in and half out of a metal cage. His rear right leg and foot were caught in a ragged blanket with holes in it.
A lot of the dog’s blood covered a porch and was splattered on his cage. There was no food or water, and the dog had defecated where it was standing. It was “visibly shaking from fear and the cold weather,” which was about 29 degrees and windy, police said.
An officer cut the dog loose from the blanket, and it was taken to the Animal Welfare League for treatment.
When officers spoke to Jackson, she said she had “worked a double [shift] and then went to her boyfriend’s house,” but officers estimated she had been gone from home “about two days.”
The dog appeared to have a broken leg and injured hip, police said.