A man accused of driving drunk and causing the death of a bicyclist has pleaded not guilty.
James Lindsay, 54, of Dunbridge, was arraigned on charges including aggravated vehicular homicide Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
He appeared via video from the jail.
Lindsay reportedly has had four charges of operating a vehicle under the influence in the last four years, including one recently, it came out during the court proceedings.
Lindsay was indicted earlier this month for aggravated vehicular homicide, a first-degree felony; operating a vehicle while under the influence, an unclassified misdemeanor; and two counts attempted failure to stop after an accident, one a third-degree felony and one a fourth-degree felony.
Bowling Green Police Division officers responded to a crash on South Main and Pearl streets on July 1 at 2:11 p.m.
According to the BGPD report, it was determined that the truck driven by Lindsay left the roadway and struck a pedestrian on a bicycle who was on the sidewalk.
Michael Szabo, 60, Bowling Green, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two witnesses told police that they saw Lindsay strike the bicyclist and then put the truck in reverse and try to leave the scene, according to the police report.
An open container of alcohol was in his truck, the police report said, and Lindsay had a suspended license.
Defense attorney Sara Roller entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of her client.
Kuhlman said he could impose a mandatory minimum sentence of three-11 years for the aggravated vehicular homicide charge, which carries a maximum of 16.5 years due to it falling under Reagan Tokes Act classification.
A sentence of nine-36 months and six-18 months are an option for the two failure to stop charges plus a mandatory 30 days to one year for the OVI charge.
Kuhlman said penalties also could include a lifetime license suspension.
Roller said Lindsay had been working prior to his arrest and employment is still available. If released, he will reside in Bowling Green.
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brian Boos pointed out public safety needs to be taken into account when setting bond.
Lindsay had three prior OVIs in 10 years and a bond-out on an OVI in another county was pending at the time of this incident, he said.
“We think the unwillingness to stop driving impaired poses a threat to public safety,” Boos said.
Kuhlman agreed and kept Lindsay’s bond set at $250,000.
If posted he will have to wear an alcohol monitor and have no contact with the alleged victim’s family.
A pretrial was set for Aug. 24.
