Community control term issued to Celina man

WAPAKONETA — A Celina man received a suspended jail sentence and two years of community control when he was sentenced on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Andrew Klosterman, 34, of Celina had pled guilty to the charge in when he appeared in Auglaize County Municipal Court in December. The charge stemmed from the June 21 two-car crash on state Route 29 that took the life of 54-year-old Russ Wiedeman.

Klosterman told the court there isn’t a day that goes by that

he doesn’t think about the crash that took the life of the Fort Jennings man. Klosterman’s vehicle went left of center and struck Wiedeman’s vehicle head on.

There were no aggravating factors in the crash, such as high speed or intoxication.

Klosterman doesn’t have full memory of the incident but remembers his car being out of control after the impact and going to the victim’s car to check on him. He accepts responsibility for what happened.

His lawyer, Zach Maisch, called the situation tragic and said that Klosterman suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and received counseling following the accident.

Klosterman was on his way to work during the crash and said he has had a hard time some days taking that route to work.

Municipal Court Judge Andrew Augsburger agreed the situation was tragic. He said it was an example of how much trust we put in other drivers on the road.

Augsburger issued minimum penalties, including a three-month license suspension and two years of community control sanctions. A 90-day jail sentence was suspended and Klosterman was asked to refrain from contacting the victim’s family, who also asked for a minimum sentence in an impact statement.