The 48-year-old accused of causing the rollover crash that killed his wife remains free on his own recognizance after making his first court appearance.
Richard Sickels of Sherrodsville is facing eight counts including aggravated vehicular homicide for the St. Patrick ’s Day crash on state route 39 in union township that also injured both rear-seat passengers.
He entered the not guilty plea earlier Friday during his arraignment in Tuscarawas county common pleas court and was placed on pre-supervision with a continuous alcohol monitor.
Assistant prosecutor Scott Deedrick requested the device.
Judge Michael Ernest read from the indictment, which claims that Sickels’ blood alcohol concentration at the time of the alleged crimes was more than twice the legal limit.
The state highway patrol says the crash occurred just before 3 am when the dodge challenger Sickels was driving went off one side of the road then the other, striking a guardrail and ditch before overturning. His wife, 46-year-old Jennifer Sickels, was pronounced dead at the scene. There’s a pretrial conference on December 17th to schedule further court proceedings.
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