LAKE COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) – Video released to the FOX 8 I-Team shows what a driver said to a state trooper moments after a deadly crash.
He admitted what happened and that he shouldn’t have been on the road.
The crash killed Katie Wise, a mother of three. We found this marks the second time a deadly crash has torn apart the same family.
This crash happened in August along I-90 in Lake County. The I-Team obtained body-camera video from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
It shows a trooper just getting to the scene.
He asks the first person he meets, “You all right?”
The man answers, “Oh, I don’t know. I’m the one that hit her.”
The patrol identified that driver as Leon Klotz.
On the video, the trooper continues to question Klotz, asking, “Got your driver’s license?”
Klotz answers, “My license is suspended.”
He explains the license was suspended for, “Improper registration.”
He explains the crash by saying, “Something happened and I lost control of the truck. I crossed the median and I tried to turn sideways and (shakes head).”
While this crash took Katie’s life, her 5-year-old daughter had been killed in a crash long ago.
In both cases, investigators say the drivers should not have been behind the wheel.
Katie’s husband, John Wise, spoke out.
“She was a hard worker. She was a better friend. She was a great mother,” he said.
Now, John has lost his wife and his daughter, Angel. Back in 1998, a drunk driver caused a crash that killed Angel.
Wise spoke about the suspect in the latest case.
“If he was doing what he was supposed to be doing, he obviously wouldn’t have been there,” he said. “We wouldn’t be talking, right now or going through this nightmare all over again.”
We called Klotz and checked his driving record, too. That shows he had just been convicted in May for driving without a license.
By phone, Klotz said he can’t explain what happened. Has no idea why he lost control. He added that he’s devastated and his heart goes out to Katie’s family.
The I-Team asked why he drove with a suspended license. He said he was in a “desperate state” and not able to function unless he could get around.
“You have to give him the maximum sentence, and the maximum sentence, really, isn’t even enough,” John said.
John is now also calling on lawmakers to pass tougher laws with more punishment for drivers ignoring the rules and causing serious crashes.
As John is starting another fight for justice, the body camera video shows Klotz already wondering what price he might pay.
He told a trooper, “I know I’m in trouble.”
He faces charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and driving under suspension. The case, next, is expected to be heard by a grand jury for consideration of more charges.
