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Suspect allegedly violates bond |
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Thursday, 27 December 2007 |
By KAY LOUTH
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — A local woman facing a slew of criminal charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, in connection with the November death of a Wapakoneta woman was back in court hours after posting bond.
Alissa Townsend, 48, 1109 Nagel St., St. Marys, was able to post bond for her release from the Auglaize County jail and was released at 12:13 p.m. Friday only to find herself behind bars once again for allegedly violating the conditions of her bond. Officers from the St. Marys Police Department arrested Townsend at her residence after receiving a call from a confidential source that Townsend had been drinking — a violation of her bond violation.
“We went to her house,” St. Marys Police Chief Greg Foxhoven said, noting as a condition of her bond, she was required to submit to tests for blood alcohol. “That’s a standard condition of Judge (Frederick) Pepple’s court. No alcohol is almost a given.”
Townsend was given a chemical test for the presence of alcohol in her system. She reportedly registered a .082 blood alcohol content (BAC). She was arrested at 4:15 p.m. Friday and was back in jail by 7:15 p.m.
On Nov. 17, Heather Jane Schaub, 40, of Wapakoneta, was eastbound on U.S. 33 when the SUV she was driving was rear-ended by Townsend driving a Nissan Sentra. The collision caused Schaub to lose control of her vehicle, skid across the median and overturn onto the westbound lanes. Schaub was ejected from the SUV, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her son Fletcher Schaub, 3, was riding in the back seat of the SUV was transported to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima. He survived the crash.
Townsend’s vehicle skidded off the right side of the road and came to rest on the berm.
According to a report by the Wapakoneta Post of the State Highway Patrol, there was a strong smell of alcohol on Townsend and a blood alcohol test was ordered. Townsend was treated and released at the Joint Township District Memorial Hospital.
According to investigators, Townsend was driving at an excessive speed when she struck Schaub’s vehicle. Previously Townsend has been cited for speed by the St. Marys Police in 2000 and the highway patrol in 2001.
In 2006, she pleaded no contest before Judge Gary Herman in Municipal Court for operating a vehicle under the influence for a 2005 incident.
Townsend faces charges of one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony, one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony, charged in the alternative, and one count of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs of abuse, a first-degree misdemeanor.
If convicted, Townsend faces a maximum sentence of more than eight years in prison, a $16,500 fine and a lifetime suspension of her motor vehicle operator’s license. Pepple set her initial bond at $400,000, with a 10 percent cash provision.
A trial date is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 25. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 31 December 2007 )
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