Truck hits Medway Baptist Church; charges to follow

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

A man is expected to be charged with OVI after he crashed his pickup truck into Medway Baptist Church, 11027 Gerlaugh Road, early Tuesday.

Troopers with the Ohio Highway Patrol said the man was headed south on Lake Road when he failed to stop at Lake and Gerlaugh at about 3 a.m.

The vehicle traveled through the church parking lot, the church's sign and into the side of the building. The driver was not injured and called a woman, who picked him up and called police to tell them about the incident.

Extensive damage was done to the church's nursery, on the basement level of the building.

"At least it wasn't during services," said the pastor of eight years, Steven Lookabaugh. The church has a congregation of more than 100. "As Christians we look at it as just wood, hay and stumble, and we're thankful that nobody got hurt."

The impact from the crash left a truck-sized hole in the side of the building and littered the nursery with bricks and other debris.

"He came all the way through the building," said Lookabaugh. "We had to shore up the joists and we're still waiting for the insurance adjuster to come tomorrow before we'll know the full extent of the damage.

"We've had some other damage because of the crash," he said. "We have had water leakage in several areas. We have plumbers checking things out right now and seeing what damage we have."

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