'He hasn't learned anything': Parents of electrocution victims urge judge not to reduce alleged drunk driver's bond

ELYRIA — Parents of two men who were electrocuted in October in Columbia Township urged Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Betleski on Monday not to reduce the bond for Keith Liedtke, who was charged in the crash that preceded their deaths. Liedtke, 31, is facing four felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault and two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence in the incident. He is being held on $100,000 bond. "It think it is the responsibility of us as family members and the courts … to protect the public," said Gary D. Wilson, father of victim Brett Wilson, 23. "I don't think letting him out on a lower bond is going to do that. I think the public is in jeopardy with him on the roadways. He hasn't learned anything." Both Gary D. Wilson and Sara Leopold, mother of the other electrocution victim Brent Reszler, said they have been in contact with people who say they saw Liedtke in bars between the time of the incident and his arrest. Further, Gary D. Wilson said he was the first person to arrive at the crash scene and saw Liedtke there. He became emotional as he recalled arriving at the crash. "I know it was (Liedtke). I was there, I was the first one on the scene," he said. "He was there. He's the driver. He killed my son and he killed Brent." Prosecutors say Liedtke drove into a utility pole and knocked power lines onto the wet Sprague Road in an early-morning drunken driving crash on Oct. 27. Bystanders Brett Wilson and his girlfriend Hannah Gallagher, 24, rushed onto the road to administer aid to Liedtke and passenger Brent Reszler, 27. After getting out of the crashed Pontiac G5, Liedtke was shocked by the live line and Reszler was electrocuted. When Gallagher and Wilson, an off-duty Columbia Township firefighter, approached to help, they too encountered the live lines. Wilson was electrocuted, and Liedtke and Gallagher suffered serious injuries. Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Pierre said Liedtke's blood-alcohol content was 0.211 percent at the time of the crash. Ohio law deems a driver too impaired to drive at 0.08 percent. On Monday, Liedtke's attorney, Kenneth Lieux, requested that Betleski grant a personal bond, saying his client is a lifelong resident of the area with no felony record and would not pose a flight risk. Lieux told the judge that Liedtke has been seeing doctors at Cleveland Clinic for skin graft appointments. "Since his arrest, he has missed an appointment. He actually had an appointment today that he is missing due to his incarceration in this case," he said. "He told me this morning that jail staff told him he now has an infection in one of the wounds on his leg, which needs attention as well." Pierre argued that Liedtke may actually pose a flight risk. According to Pierre, Liedtke asked his father in a jail call to take him on an upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic, and his father joked that he would leave him there. Even if it was a joke, Pierre said that "permanently absconding from the area to avoid prosecution" is no laughing matter. Liedtke's medical needs are being taken care of while he is in jail, Pierre added. Betleski said he will review the case and likely make a decision on bond reduction by the end of the day Wednesday. After the hearing, Gary D. Wilson said he does not know how the case is going to turn out in court, but he vowed to be there all along the way and make sure his son's and Reszler's stories are told. He said it has been challenging to live life without his son, who he described as a young man who saw the positives in everybody and never doubted his career path as a firefighter and EMT. "You wake up in the morning and you think it was a dream," he said. "And then you realize it's not the dream, it's the truth. And then you have to start living again every day." Leopold said her son, Reszler, was a lot like Brett Wilson — a man with a great sense of humor who loved the outdoors. He had a passion for classical music, she said, and played tuba twice at Severance Hall. "I would like people to know that my son was worth saving," she said. "He was a happy, good person. He loved everyone he met and he always tried to make people happy." Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.