Somewhere in a laboratory backlog, Matthew DiBease’s blood sample waits to be tested.
DiBease, 27, of Geneva-on-the-Lake, was “impaired,” in December, OHP Sgt. Jared Sutton said, when he went left of center into the eastbound lane of Route 84, and struck 26-year-old Tabitha Wilder’s vehicle head on.
The troopers and emergency personnel worked for almost an hour to free an Wilder from the wreckage.
Charges against DiBease are pending the results of his toxicology report, OHP Lt. Mike Harmon said.
But it didn’t take DiBease long to find more trouble, according to Painesville Municipal Court records, as he was arrested by Madison Township police on Jan. 12 for attempting to obtain a dangerous drug.
DiBease pleaded guilty and is serving 90 days of a 180-day sentence, court records show.
DiBease made local headlines in November when his wife, Karen DiBease, died suddenly, leaving him to raise his four children alone. The community rallied behind DiBease, donating food, clothing, toys and bicycles for the Dibease children. Churches rushed to provide Thanksgiving meals for the family and donations toward funeral expenses were made by businesses, organizations and individuals.
Karen DiBease’s cause of death is still unknown, the Ashtabula County coroner’s office reports, pending autopsy toxicology results.
Wilder recently awoke from a coma and is still at the Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center, where she will undergo physical therapy for at least four months.
Margaret Emerisko, who is the grandmother of Wilder’s four children, said the sad situation is “heartbreaking for two families.”
“I know this has been hard on Tabitha and the children, but my heart goes out to the DiBease family, too,” she said. “Those children lost their mother and now their father. That is a tragedy, too.”
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