A Wilmington man now faces 20 charges related to a two-vehicle crash that injured a New Vienna teacher, her three children and five other people.
Justin Lemmings, 18, was indicted in Clinton County Common Pleas Court on Monday on 11 counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony; six counts of aggravated vehicle assault, a third-degree felony; one count of endangering children, a fifth-degree felony; and two counts of abduction, a third-degree felony.
The large number of charges against Lemmings is partly due to the number of people injured, Clinton County Prosecutor Richard “Rick” W. Moyer said Tuesday.
Moyer said some of the charges specify that Lemmings allegedly used a deadly weapon, which, in this case, was the vehicle itself.
The charges also cover the allegation the driver was over the legal limit of alcohol, the county prosecutor said.
The charge of endangering children was filed because there was a juvenile in the car Lemmings was allegedly driving while over the alcohol limit, said Moyer.
The two abduction charges stem from allegations that passengers wanted to get out of the car Lemmings was operating and were not allowed to get out, Moyer said.
Moyer declined to release Lemmings’ precise blood alcohol concentration. The legal limit in Ohio is 0.08.
The crash, which occurred on SR 73 in Wilmington on Tuesday, May 28, involved a 2002 Chevrolet Impala driven by Lemmings and a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox SUV driven by Ashley Davis, 33, of New Vienna.
A person listed as a witness in the Wilmington Police Department report stated that the Impala operated by Lemmings ran a red light and T-boned the Equinox.
The injured occupants of the vehicles were transported to Miami Valley Hospital as well as to Clinton Memorial Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Ashley Davis, who had been listed in critical condition after incurring several serious injuries that required surgery, remains in Miami Valley Hospital, where her condition is currently listed as good.
Lemmings, currently incarcerated in the Clinton County Jail on a $500,000 bond, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on June 4 in Clinton County Municipal Court, where he originally faced five counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony.
