Bond has been set for the Portage man accused of dragging Sheri Jania to her
death beneath his car on Sept. 3.
Last week,
Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford ordered bond for James Lohman
III, 49, set at $250,000 cash or surety.
Lohman remained
in custody this morning.
Lohman has been
charged with the following:
•Leaving the
scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury or death while operating
while intoxicated, a Class B felony punishable by a term of six to 20 years.
•Reckless
homicide, a Class C felony punishable by a term of two to eight years.
•OWI causing the
death of another person, also a Class C felony.
•Criminal
recklessness with a motor vehicle, a Class A misdemeanor.
Bradford also
scheduled Lohman’s trial for 1 p.m. March 5, with a pre-trial hearing at 9
a.m. Feb. 6 and a status omnibus hearing at 9 a.m. Jan. 9.
According to
Burns Harbor Police, at around 4 p.m. on Sept. 3 Lohman, driving a 1997
Mercury Cougar two-door, was trying to flee the parking lot of the Shift
Change Tap when Jania, an off-duty bartender, took a position to the left
and front of his car. Lohman “put the car into drive,” “cut the wheel
sharply to the left,” “then floored it and . . . ran Jania over,” police
said.
The “car stopped
for about 10 to 15 seconds and someone opened the door,” police said, but
even as witnesses at the scene “were screaming that Jania was under the
car,” the driver fled the parking lot, “vehicle floored with spinning
tires.”
Jania was
dragged beneath the undercarriage of the Mercury for 1.2 miles, police said,
before finally being dislodged in the area of U.S. Highway 20 and Salt Creek
Road. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lohman advised
after being taken into custody by Portage Police that his front-seat
passenger was to blame, that the passenger “put his leg over to the driver’s
side and placed his foot over Lohman’s foot and pushed on the gas pedal,
(causing) him to run over the girl,” police said.
No charges have
been filed against the front-seat passenger.
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