Thursday, December 09, 1999
Young driver may end up in adult court
Passenger still in rehab unit
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — The former Beechwood High School football player behind the wheel in a cemetery wreck that left his passenger nearly comatose might stand trial as an adult.
The boy, now 16, faces a grand jury hearing after which he could be indicted on charges of assault, driving without a license and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. Kenton District Judge Frank Trusty, after learning the extent of the injuries suffered by passenger Brad Fritz, ordered the case sent to adult court.
Even though the case was bound over, the driver's name was not released because the case could return to juvenile court if grand jurors indict him on lesser charges.
Judge Trusty ordered everyone present in the courtroom — including lawyers and Brad's parents, brothers and girlfriend — not to talk about the proceedings.
The driver, who was 15 at the time, allegedly had been drinking and driving too fast when the car police say he took from a sister's boyfriend slammed into a tree in Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. The accident occurred Sept. 18. Brad, 15, remains in a mostly unresponsive state doctors describe as a little bit better than comatose.
Don Fritz, Brad's father, had planned to testify about the brain injury from which his son suffers. He and his wife, Peggy, have taken pictures and made videotapes to docu ment Brad's life.
Doctors at Children's Hospital, where Brad remains in a rehabilitation unit, cannot say when or whether Brad will recover. They were encouraged last week after he was able to eat applesauce — a speech-therapy tool used to help Brad learn to use his tongue.
The case against the driver will be taken over by Boone Commonwealth Attorney Willie Mathis. A special prosecutor was necessary because Kenton Commonwealth Attorney Don Buring is a friend of the Fritz family.
Judge Trusty allowed the driver to return to the football team, but the school didn't allow him to play again this season.
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