Alliance man, 20, pleads not guilty to charges over fatal head-on crash in May

CANTON ‒ A 20-year-old Alliance man has pleaded not guilty to charges filed in connection with a traffic crash that killed a 43-year-old driver May 8 in Nimishillen Township.

Zachary V. Gottscheck pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter and driving left-of-center. He appeared Friday in Canton Municipal Court.

According to the crash report by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the collision occurred when Gottscheck, driving east on State Street in a 2017 Jeep Wrangler. Investigators said he traveled across the center line and hit Joseph L. Kellogg of Alliance, who was driving west on State in a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The two vehicles collided head-on.

Kellogg died. He was on his way to work when the crash occurred, according to the highway patrol's report.

Gottscheck's Jeep also hit a 1997 Honda Civic driven by Theodor S. Gazdak, 48, of Washington Township. The Civic was also westbound on State. The Jeep hit Gazdak's vehicle before hitting Kellogg's, according to the crash report.

Gottscheck had no comment to make about the charges when contacted by the Repository on Thursday.

Vehicular homicide charge: One driver killed, two others injured in early morning crash in Marlboro Township

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Zachary Gottscheck pleads not guilty to fatal crash charges