LEBANON — Authorities say they will file a misdemeanor charge against a Warren Correctional Institution guard in connection with the van crash that killed a co-worker.

        Richard Lake Jr., 40, of Lebanon, who was driving the van, is scheduled to be charged Monday in Madison County with vehicular homicide in the Feb. 2 crash that killed 54-year-old Wayne Mitchell of Lebanon and injured Mr. Lake, a third guard and two inmates, highway patrol officials said.

        One of the inmates told officials that the vehicle was speeding on icy roads when it slammed into a bridge abutment.

        Prosecutors, who said they considered filing a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide, decided instead on the misdemeanor.

        “We felt that was the appropriate charge given case law and all the factors of this case,” said Greg Merritt, a Madison County assistant prosecutor who reviewed the case.

        “There is a plethora of cases that say recklessness is not necessarily someone that was speeding.”

        The prison van was transporting two inmates to the Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus for medical tests during a snowstorm when it crashed. Prison officials said the van left the correctional institution an hour before the 8:30 a.m. crash on northbound Interstate 71 near Mount Sterling.

        The wreck critically injured corrections officer Douglas Scrivner, 27, of Fairfield, and hurt inmates Jacob R. Reeder, 57, of Clinton County, and Thomas L. Neville, 40, of Columbiana County.

        One of the inmates said the speedometer showed just before the crash that the van was traveling 80 mph, Mr. Merritt said. Mr. Lake told investigators he could not remember who was driving.

        Mr. Lake is on medical leave. If convicted, he faces a maximum jail term of six months, suspension of his driver's license and a maximum fine of $1,000. He could not be reached Friday for comment.

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