Hearing delayed for man accused in wrong-way crash

A preliminary hearing was delayed on July 11 for a Wickliffe man accused of causing a June 24 wrong-way crash in Kirtland Hills.

Willoughby Municipal Court Judge Marisa Cornachio ordered that the hearing for Willard Burge IV, 33, be rescheduled for 1 p.m., July 12.

The hearing date was changed so an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper investigating the crash can be present to testify. Because of a scheduling issue, the trooper already was involved in a separate hearing in Chardon Municipal Court on the afternoon of July 11 at the same time as the Willoughby hearing.

Burge was arraigned June 25 in Willoughby Municipal Court on thirddegree felony aggravated vehicular assault as well as two counts of misdemeanor OVI.

According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, the crash happened just before 3 a.m. on Interstate 90 at milepost 195, just east of Route 306.

A 2015 Toyota Rav 4 driven by Burge was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes just east of Route 306 when it struck head-on a 2011 Chevrolet Impala traveling westbound on Interstate 90.

Erin E. Stockdale, 32, of Concord Township, was a passenger in the right front seat of the Rav 4, the news release from OHP stated. Burge was transported to TriPoint Medical Center with minor injuries. Both occupants were wearing their safety belts.

The Impala was driven by 56-year-old Samia A. Campagna of Alliance, Ohio, and she was transported to Hillcrest Hospital with incapacitating injuries. Campagna was wearing her safety belt.

At the July 11 hearing in Willoughby Municipal Court, Burge’s attorney, Brandon Henderson, raised a separate issue of filing an affidavit that intended to confirm the identify of who was driving the

The hearing date was changed so an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper investigating the crash can be present to testify. Because of a scheduling issue, the trooper already was involved in a separate hearing in Chardon Municipal Court on the afternoon of July 11 at the same time as the Willoughby hearing.

Toyota Rav 4 owned by Stockdale.

However, Cornachio said that question didn’t need to be addressed during a preliminary hearing.

“If you are going to challenge ID, that’s going to be done at the common pleas level,” she told Henderson. “The affidavit and the evidence, if you want to challenge ID, can be done, but that doesn’t negate the state’s case in terms of whether there’s probable cause here for the bindover, and that’s what I’m dealing with.

“You’re going to have plenty of time to establish your defense and it’s not going to be done in this courtroom. The issue at this stage is whether there’s probable cause to believe that Mr. Burge is the one who committed the offense. That can be established through an officer.”

Cornachio said she would be willing to issue a court order to lock down Stockdale’s car, and asked Kirtland Hills Village Prosecutor James O’Leary to find out where the vehicle had been towed after the crash.

As of the late afternoon on July 11, a Willoughby Municipal Court official could not find a court order that had been issued yet regarding the car.

Burge is free on bond that he posted on June 25 and was not present at the July 11 hearing.

Burge