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Man charged in death of Garrettsville officer Faces felonies for crash that killed Donovan Svab

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Diane Smith

July 15, 2008

Photo By by Steph Krell
Christopher R. Jones walks out of the Portage County Courthouse in handcuffs after his arraignment Monday afternoon, July 14, 2008 in Ravenna, Ohio.

By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer
A Kent man charged in the fatal collision that claimed the life of a Garrettsville police and Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer last year was in court Monday, charged with aggravated vehicular homicide.
Christopher R. Jones, 23, was the driver in a crash in August 2007. Donovan E. Svab, 37, of Mantua was killed in the crash.
Jones was served Monday with an indictment charging him with two felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, including a second degree felony charge with mandatory prison time if he is convicted and a third-degree felony. He also is facing two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Svab was on his way home from his ODNR job when the crash occurred. He left behind a wife and three children.
Porage County Common Pleas Court Judge John Enlow set a bond of 10 percent of $100,000 for Jones. Jones was still in the Portage County jail as of Monday afternoon.
Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci requested a bond of $200,000 for Jones, saying his driving record makes him "a menace to the roadways of Portage County."
He said Jones has been convicted of a dozen speeding violations since 2003 and three crashes, the third of which claimed the life of Svab, "a father of three." Before that crash, he said, Jones' car was traveling at speeds ranging from 60 miles per hour to 95 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone.
"For a 23-year-old, he has probably the worst driving record I've seen in my years," Vigluicci said.
Jones' attorney, William Lentz, said Jones has not been convicted of any serious crimes, and pointed out that his client has been recovering from injuries sustained in the crash for most of the time since the crash occurred.
"Without minimizing the impact this accident had on everyone, Chris did have serious injuries that required extensive treatment," he said. "This accident happened 11 months ago. If Chris wanted to run, he had ample opportunity to do so. Instead, he wanted to stay and answer these charges. He voluntarily turned himself in."
Trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 16 with a pretrial conference on Sept. 8.

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61.	Posted by MyGirl42187 July 23, 2008
	To call this a "lose/lose situation" falls way short of the mark. Sure, one person loses thier freedom for a while and thier life becomes very difficult and the criminal has to LIVE with it. However, they will still have family, friends, children and life. For the victim they lose EVERYTHING. They lose thier hopes, thier dreams, the ability to see thier children grow and become parents themselves. They lose the most precious thing of all. LIFE and all the good times, trying times and the things that make us human, the things that make us whole. The victims family will suffer for the rest of thier lives. Through the day to day realization of what happened they will suffer. Just when they start to feel somewhat "normal" again the reality will hit them again, and again, and again. Every holiday and significant day/event in thier lives will remind them of what and who they miss. Saying it is a "lose/lose situation" and giving a perception that the loss is equal between the offender and victim is just not what I would call an appropriate description of the consequences. And I am being really nice when I say that...it could be very easy for me to be the other way about it. even though I do not know them I pray for the Svab family every day. I hope they find the strength to carry on and love each other everyday. I hope for thier eventual healing and that they never have to endure any pain like this ever again. I hope they can have have a good life filled with happiness and goodness. I understand. Truly.

60.	Posted by s.swenson July 22, 2008
	The prosecutor didn't think he could accomplish convicting this man in a fair and unbiased manner? You've got to be crazy. The handcuffed photo does nothing to convince a future potential jury of his guilt. His past driving record in and out of Portage County and his blood alcohol level will be the two things that convict him, plain and simple black and white. At some future point another photo will appear of him as he is lead away to jail after being convicted for a crime against society and taking the life of another.

59.	Posted by mfredmonsky-harvey July 22, 2008
	The sad thing about ALL of this, is that it is a Lose/Lose situation. No one truly winsno matter the outcome of this trial, all have suffered. I still feel deeply for the Svab family, as I knew Donovan, went thru school with him, and graduated with him. He was a wonderful person, and ALWAYS put a smile on your face. My prayers continue to be with his family. As for the other, I don't know him, but I know he has a problem, and I will pray for him too, as he obviously needs help, before statistics claim him. Knowing Donovan, I truly believe he would not want that to happen.

58.	Posted by cactus July 21, 2008
	to the family of donovan, the individual that took his life is and will pay for his stupidity, and will always be remembered as a class act of a police officer and most importantly, a person , husband and FATHER!

57.	Posted by gucci July 21, 2008
	"Ayn Rand" this is kind of like "The Night of January 16th" isn't it? I know.....

56.	Posted by gucci July 21, 2008
	Ayn Rand, At least you dont deny that you are crazy. I Guess that is a good first step. Now can you quit using that poor kids name in here like you have some sort of inside information for Christ sake. I suppose you see him in your crystal ball? You are obviously a nut job. You flip flop between being a rude and ignorant person to attempting to have these readers see you as some sort of heroine for the goodness and innocence of this man. Fact is he drove drunk and killed someone. I speak only for myself, but you have now lost most, if not all your credibility relating to logical expression on this topic.

55.	Posted by marmanfan July 21, 2008
	Ayn Rand, Could you please stop directing your comments to a specific person. I can assure you that Officer Svabs family members are not on here commenting. They would just like to get through this trial. They don't want to get involved in all this "slinging" back and forth. I, however, would like to tell the person who had the audacity to ask if "anyone checked Officer Svabs blood alcohol content because cops don't get off work at 3am" WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU TO QUESTION WHAT TIME HE GOT OFF WORK? Are you a cop? That was the most disgusting, hurtful thing you could have posted on here. Please for the sake of his wife and children, quit posting and naming the family members.

54.	Posted by Ayn Rand July 20, 2008
	Donnie, I'm sorry I had no right to reply so rudely. You have endured a great and tragic loss. I was merely pointing out the obviously subversive tactics employed by the prosecution, which in your eyes are a good thing but I happen to find it contemptible. I fight for public objectivity in this matter because if it were you or I, I would want the same courtesy.

53.	Posted by Ayn Rand July 20, 2008
	Obviously... I never said at any point in my diatribe that he was innocent. There was nothing, "liberal" or "left-wing" about anything I said either I'd stay away from Vegas if I were you. Try reading, it's good for you.

52.	Posted by gucci July 20, 2008
	Ayn Rand: That last post was a real doozy!! You are obviously a crazy, left wing, govenment conspiracy, liberal, out of your mind, freaking mess!!! So what are you going to say when he IS convicted? OOPS!! Sorry I was wrong?? I guess he is really a piece of poop? Of course not!! You will crawl back into your liberal bleeding heart for the criminal hole. If was a gambler I would put all my money on the the following. You are probably going to say that the judges, police and prosecutor gathered around a caldron of boiling wing of newt and eye of bat and made a evil conspiracy and put a hex against this fine, fine young innocent man!!! NOW WHO IS PREDICTABLE???? Take another prozac and feel sorry for yourself in your dark, scary world of government conspiracies and political boggeymen. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

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