Probation given to drunken driver in fatal 2019 Columbia Township crash

A former Columbia Township man who crashed his car into a utility pole while driving drunk in October 2019, dropping live wires onto Sprague Road that electrocuted two people, pleaded guilty to lesser charges Monday and was sentenced to one year of probation. The change in plea came after the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office received evidence that potentially turned the facts of the case in defendant Keith Liedtke's favor. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski dismissed six of the nine charges facing Liedtke at the request of the prosecutor's office, including felony aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. Liedtke, 34, then pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor DUI charges. Prosecutors elected to have the judge sentence Liedtke on just one of the DUI charges. Betleski then sentenced Liedtke to six days in jail, fined him $375 plus court costs, and ordered him to spend one year on probation along with a drug and alcohol use evaluation. With credit for 11 days already served in the Lorain County Jail, he is unlikely to do any additional time behind bars. Liedtke, who told Betleski he now lives in Medina County, declined to make a statement to the court. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre told Betleski that his office got information that could be "exculpatory" — meaning it could clear Liedtke of guilt or liability — for the deaths of Brett Wilson and Brent Reszler on Oct. 27, 2019. For that reason, and with the blessing of the families of the dead men and survivor Hannah Gallagher, Pierre said a plea deal was offered. Wilson and Reszler died after they came in contact with live power lines shortly after Liedtke crashed his Pontiac G5 into a utility pole on Sprague Road. Liedtke and Reszler, 27, of Columbia Township, got out of the car and were shocked by a live electrical wire. Reszler died and Liedtke suffered burns. Brett Wilson, 23 and an off-duty Columbia Township EMT/firefighter and his girlfriend Hannah Gallagher, 24, a Cleveland resident and nurse, were nearby, heard the crash and went to help. A live power line fell on Brett Wilson and he was electrocuted. Gallagher went to "put out the fire on his stomach," according to a statement read in court Monday. The next thing she knew, she was waking up being put into an ambulance and taken to "the hospital where I work" — being treated in rooms she was familiar with, according to a victim impact statement her mother, Kelly, read in court after Hannah Gallagher was too overcome with emotion. Hannah Gallagher's statement said "a series of negligent acts" by Liedtke led to her being burned and her boyfriend dying. She said she was able to hold his hand at the hospital one last time. The couple had last done that earlier in the day. In her statement, Hannah Gallagher wrote that Brett Wilson told her "'This is the happiest I've ever been.'" Hannah Gallagher said Liedtke's "negligent" and "preventable" actions have left her with trauma. She doesn't sleep, has panic attacks, is frightened of loud sounds like thunder, fireworks or humming power lines, and has had "cardiac issues" that twice required an exterior monitoring device, she wrote. "I'm terrified that another person I love will be taken away from me far too soon and despite my best efforts, I will be unable to save them," Hannah Gallagher wrote. "The world was robbed of a man who dedicated his life to saving strangers, all because of a choice to recklessly drive under the influence." State Highway Patrol troopers at the scene of the crash immediately suspected Liedtke was driving impaired, and his blood-alcohol content tested at 0.211. That's more than twice the legal limit to drive. "The message that is important here is that drunk driving kills," Pierre said. Brett Wilson's father Gary Wilson also apologized to the court for an outburst he made at a hearing in April, when he became angry after he learned Liedtke's trial would be rescheduled to September this year — one month short of the three-year anniversary of his son's death. "Last time you saw me in your courtroom, I acted like an ass," Gary Wilson told Betleski, adding that he should have learned in his 17 years as a police officer to put his trust in the judge. "As far as this sentencing goes today, I think we've all suffered a lot here, have we not?" Gary Wilson asked, his voice breaking. "My family. Brent's family. Keith's family. Nobody's coming out of this unscarred." In a statement he provided to The Chronicle-Telegram after the hearing was over, defense attorney Kenneth Lieux explained that the deaths "were the direct result of Ohio Edison's failure to operate its electric power distribution system in a safe manner." Ohio Edison, which is owned by FirstEnergy, "was using old equipment which failed to de-energize the power line that fell in the road at the time of car-pole accident," he wrote. Lieux wrote that "modern safety devices called three phase reclosers are used by most power companies to de-energize, or cut off the power, when power lines are damaged and fall to the ground." There are nearly 600 car-versus-pole crashes in Ohio Edison's coverage area alone each year, Lieux wrote, as well as storms, wind and tree damage incidents "that cause power lines to fall every year, as well." "Human losses from these known dangers are preventable," he wrote. "In simple terms, a 'hot line' is not supposed to hit the ground and remain energized." "It is our position that the electric companies ... who fail to comply with national standards that govern power companies bear responsibility for the deaths and injuries sustained in this case," Lieux wrote. The Wilson and Reszler families and Hannah Gallagher filed a civil lawsuit against Liedtke, FirstEnergy, Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. and Sigma Technologies in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in October 2021. Sigma later was dismissed from the lawsuit. In June, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge David Matia granted a motion by Liedtke and the other defendants to "stay" the case until his criminal case was resolved in Lorain County, according to Cuyahoga County court records. He ordered the parties to file a motion with his court to reinstate the civil case within two weeks of the resolution of the criminal case. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.