By Marci Piltz
Record-Courier staff writer
A Kent man pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of killing a Portage County law enforcement officer in a drunken driving crash in August 2007.
Christopher R. Jones, 23, of 619 Walter St., Apt. 3, appeared before Judge John Enlow in Portage County Common Pleas Court with his attorney, William Lentz, to enter a guilty plea to two of four charges he was indicted on earlier this year.
Jones will be sentenced in January.
Jones was driving a 2002 Acura RSX southbound on Diagonal Road in Mantua, just north of Frost Road, around 3:20 a.m. when his vehicle veered left of center, according to previously released information from the Ravenna Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol. It then struck a 1999 Ford Taurus headed northbound and driven by Donovan Svab, a part-time Garrettsville police officer and full-time Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer.
The patrol said neither driver was wearing a seat belt, and Svab's vehicle rolled over and came to a rest on its roof in a ditch. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Portage County Coroner's Office.
Jones suffered injuries in the crash as well, and it took medical personnel more than one hour to extricate him from the wreckage.
Jones was indicted in July on two counts each of aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to one of each of the charges and the remaining two were dismissed.
Svab's widow, Nicole, was in the courtroom Friday when Jones entered the plea, as were his parents and brother, Dustin, a Ravenna police officer.
"I'm glad this phase is over," said Deirdre Svab, Donovan's mother. "Now I can bury my son."
Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci represented the state in the case and told Enlow that as part of the plea agreement with Jones a joint recommendation of a four year prison sentence had been agreed upon by both the prosecution and defense.
Dustin Svab, who coordinates the Portage County Safe Communities program which is aimed at reducing motor vehicle crashes and fatalities, said the plea came at a difficult time, "at the very time of the year that has become so difficult to endure due to the loss of Donovan.
"It is our hope that others can learn from the outcome of this incident and the far outreaching affects it has not only to family members, but to everyone that knew him." Dustin said.
Donovan's widow, Nicole, also made a brief statement following the hearing.
"Today's events will not bring back my children's father, but I am glad Mr. Jones is admitting responsibility for his actions," she said.
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