DRIVER SENTENCED IN CRASH THAT KILLED BICYCLIST; 

  Wednesday, January 9, 2002 
  NEWS   02C 

  By Dean Narciso 
  Dispatch Staff Reporter 


The man who left a crash that killed a bicyclist a
year ago was sentenced to three years of probation
this week.

Brian P. Jenkins pleaded no contest on Monday to one
felony count of fleeing a crash that killed Jerry
Wick, 33, lead singer and guitarist of the
local rock group Gaunt, a year ago Thursday.

Jenkins, 27, also will lose his driving privileges for
six months except to go to work. In addition, he was
ordered to perform 120 hours of community
service with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"I'm not happy he was sentenced,'' said Jenkins'
attorney, Kinsley Nyce. "I'm happy he isn't going to
jail.''

Judge Deborah P. O'Neill of Franklin County Common
Pleas Court could have imposed a maximum one-year jail
sentence and $2,500 fine.

Jenkins has maintained that he didn't know he had hit
a person but said he thought his car was being
targeted by armed or rock-throwing assailants
who had pelted his Ford Escort and broken its
windshield.

The accident happened about 2:30 a.m. on Hudson
Avenue, near N. 4th Street. Jenkins has said he didn't
stop because he was afraid.

Wick's father, Jerry Wick Jr., 64, spoke of Jenkins
from his Parma home last night.

"I regret that he didn't own up that he hit somebody
and left the scene of the crime,'' Wick said. "If I
was hit by a brick, I would've reported it right
away.

"A brick weights 10 pounds. My boy weighed 165 pounds,
plus the bike -- another 35. That's like hitting a
brick wall.''

Prosecuting attorney Bob Krapenc said Jenkins'
girlfriend called 911 after the crash and said that
she and Jenkins may have seen a body at the
intersection but didn't mention hitting someone. It
later was discovered that she wasn't with Jenkins at
the time.

Jenkins was charged with fleeing but not with
intentionally hitting Wick, who had been riding his
bicycle and holding a box of pizza -- all while his
blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent, more than twice
the level at which someone is considered to be drunk
in Ohio.

O'Neill said that because Jenkins fled, investigators
were unable to determine whether he also had been
drinking.

dnarciso@dispatch.com 


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