The Daily Standard
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WAPAKONETA - Additional details were shared this week in the Auglaize County Common Pleas Court case against a 67-year-old New Knoxville man accused of drunkenly hitting a 72-year-old bicyclist with his truck, then fleeing the scene, in August.
Upon the request of Todd D. Smith's attorney Rob C. Wiesenmayer, assistant county prosecutor Joshua Muhlenkamp filed a Bill of Particulars detailing their case against Smith on Tuesday.
He was indicted Sept. 3 on one count of aggravated vehicular assault, a third-degree felony; vehicular assault, a fourth-degree felony; two counts of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and one count of operating a vehicle under the influence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison and a maximum fine of $40,000.
He was arraigned on the charges and pleaded not guilty to all of them on Sept. 24.
Smith's indictment stems from a reported hit-and-run accident on Aug. 4 on Cooke Road just north of State Route 219 outside of New Knoxville.
A 911 call came into the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office dispatch center at around 5 p.m. Aug. 4 to report an injured bicyclist in a ditch off of Cooke Road, Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Tyler Easter of the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol previously told The Daily Standard.
A preliminary investigation found that a 2001 Dodge Dakota truck owned and operated by Smith was driving southbound on Cooke Road when it allegedly struck a bicyclist, identified as Paul Boeke, 72, New Knoxville, and reportedly left the scene, Easter said.
After Smith left the scene, Muhlenkamp's Tuesday filing states, he reportedly drove to a residence that he does not own in the 300 block of East Spring Street in New Knoxville and parked his Dodge truck in the residence's garage "to prevent its discovery by officers investigating the crash."
As well, Muhlenkamp wrote, Smith allegedly obtained transportation to a Wapakoneta property in the 10000 block of Kohler Road, "where he consumed alcohol with the purpose of impairing the availability of his breath, blood, or urine an accurate blood alcohol level as of the time he was operating the vehicle."
Boeke was transported via St. Marys EMS to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys with "serious injuries," he added. Alcohol was believed to be a factor in the collision, according to the original police report, and Smith was later located and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence.
Assisting state troopers at the scene were St. Marys EMS, the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office and the New Knoxville police and fire departments.
Smith was previously released on his own recognizance, with his next court date set for Nov. 13.
