Columbus firefighter guilty in causing July 2023 fatal crash while driving fire truck

A Columbus firefighter was found guilty Monday of vehicular manslaughter for causing a fatal crash while driving a fire truck.

Tyler Conners, 25, entered a no-contest plea Monday to the single misdemeanor charge in Franklin County Municipal Court. Judge Michael McAllister ordered him to complete 180 hours of community service, pay a $500 fine and any court costs and serve two years of probation.

Conners also received a two-year driver's license suspension. In addition, McAllister sentenced Conners to 90 days in jail but suspended the entirety of the sentence.

Despite the resolution of the criminal case, Conners remains on administrative leave from the department pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

The July 23 crash resulted in the death of 63-year-old Tim Wiggins of Delaware and serious injuries to his passenger and fiancé, Patricia Hesson.

On Monday, Hesson gave an emotional statement saying she lost the second chance at happiness after reconnecting with Wiggins at her brother's funeral. Her brother and Wiggins were childhood classmates. Hesson and Wiggins were previously married but began dating, and he proposed several months before the crash.

"What was supposed to be my golden years are now dark," Hesson said. "When I sleep, I have nightmares. It's like a movie that's in constant rewind."

Hesson was in the passenger seat of Wiggins' 1993 Ford Ranger pick-up truck that struck the back of a Columbus Division of Fire engine on Interstate 270 north near mile marker 38 in Gahanna.

Hesson said the crash was not an accident; instead, she called it "stupidity" in her statement.

Conners was behind the wheel of the fire truck around 9:55 p.m., driving in the far right lane of the interstate and slowed down, moving into the middle lane.

A Hyundai Sonata had moved into the middle lane simultaneously, according to a crash report. As the Sonata moved into the middle lane, the fire engine turned left into the highway's emergency turnaround from the middle lane.

The engine was protruding from the turnaround into the left lane of I-270 north traffic, the crash report says. Wiggins' truck struck the back of the fire engine.

The crash report said Wiggins was going more than 70 mph while the fire engine was traveling at about 23 mph.

The engine's lights and siren were not activated at the time of the crash.

Conners was initially charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, a first-degree misdemeanor. The charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement in the case to a second-degree misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter. The judge also dismissed two traffic citations against Conners on Monday.

Wiggins' estate has filed a civil lawsuit against Conners, the fire department, and the city's Department of Public Safety. That lawsuit is still pending.

Conners joined the Columbus Division of Fire in 2023. He previously worked for the Monroe Township Fire Department in Licking County.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus firefighter guilty in causing July 2023 fatal crash while driving fire truck