Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
Celina pedestrian first 2013 traffic fatality
By Margie Wuebker
A 54-year-old Celina man died Wednesday afternoon at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton of injuries sustained in a weekend truck-pedestrian accident. His death is the year's first traffic fatality in Mercer County.
Timothy J. Chrisman, 704-B Devonshire Drive, had previously been listed in critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.
Chrisman was walking westbound near the south side of Havemann Road when he was struck by a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Jacob Burckholter, 22, of Celina. The mishap occurred at 12:39 p.m. Saturday, according to Celina Police Department reports.
A woman reportedly told police she had driven around Chrisman seconds earlier. Her vehicle was traveling a short distance ahead of Burckholter's pickup truck, according to interim police chief Calvin Freeman.
Chrisman was rushed by ambulance to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys and later transferred to Miami Valley by helicopter.
Police talked with Burckholter but were unable to question Chrisman.
The investigation is continuing with the completed report to be forwarded to city law director George Moore and Mercer County Prosecutor Matt Fox.
The accident was the second one involving a pedestrian over the weekend. The first one occurred at 9:08 p.m. April 5 in the vicinity of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on West Anthony Street. The police report was incomplete as of this morning, and Freeman was unable to identify the pedestrian or the driver. He did say the injuries were not serious.
Funeral arrangements for Chrisman are pending at Miller Funeral Homes in St. Marys.
