toledoblade.com --

The only charge expected to come from the Wood County Prosecutor's Office in the case involving a flying red bra and a one-car, rollover accident on I-75 last month was filed yesterday.

Emily Davis, 17, of Bowling Green was charged in county juvenile court with one count of littering for putting her bra on the antenna of a car traveling north on I-75 in Middleton Township on Sept. 26 with three other teenage girls inside.

The bra, which reportedly had been frayed because it was chewed by Miss Davis' dog earlier in the day, flew off the antenna. The Ohio Highway Patrol said a trailing car with two Toledo men inside swerved into the grassy median to avoid the object, flipping over several times.

An arraignment hearing for Miss Davis is scheduled for Nov. 1 in Wood County Juvenile Court.

In a civil suit filed against the four girls in Wood County Common Pleas Court, James Campbell, 37, the driver of the 2006 Dodge Neon that crashed, blamed the flying bra for triggering the accident. Mr. Campbell, who was thrown from the vehicle, suffered a broken vertebra in his neck and a fractured thumb. His passenger, Jeff Long, 40, suffered some broken ribs.

Tim Atkins, an assistant county prosecutor, said a conviction on the littering charge is punishable by community service, a fine, and possibly probation. He said he plans to recommend that Miss Davis pay the fine and court costs, as well as perform some community service.

"The message needs to be sent that we can't have people rolling down the window of a car and throwing stuff out," Mr. Atkins said.

The assistant prosecutor said he didn't plan to press charges against the other three girls in the car, including driver Tabitha Adams, 17, of Bowling Green, and passengers Angelia Church, 17, of Northwood, and Robin Straub, 16, of Perrysburg.

Mr. Atkins yesterday identified Miss Straub as the fourth occupant after receiving confirmation from the patrol's Walbridge post on Monday.

According to the 24-page highway patrol crash report, Miss Davis told a trooper that Miss Adams tried to conceal Miss Straub's identity because the latter was on house arrest for a previous incident and she "didn't want to get her in trouble" for being in the car.

Mr. Atkins said he would look into Miss Straub's house arrest order to see if the terms were violated, but only if it was issued through Wood County Juvenile Court.

Miss Adams was not charged with obstruction, complicity, or fleeing the scene of an accident even though she did not stop her car at the scene after the accident, according to authorities. Instead, she drove north and exited at U.S. 20 in Perrysburg. She drove to a Bob Evans restaurant and contacted her mother, who reportedly told her not to go back to the scene because of traffic, the patrol report stated.

Contact Joe Vardon at:
jvardon@theblade.com
or 419-410-5055.

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