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Iredell grand jury indicts men
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Published: August 13, 2008
Two men charged in separate DWI-related fatal collisions have been indicted by an Iredell County grand jury.
James Dean Harmon of Statesville and Timothy George Kohuth of Mooresville were indicted Monday on charges of second-degree murder.
Both men also face additional charges of driving while impaired and other charges.
Kohuth is charged in connection with a July 31 wreck that claimed the life of Wesley Worden, 71, of Mooresville. Troopers said his blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash on Brawley School Road was .43 — more than five times the legal limit.
Worden's wife, Gail, was injured in the crash and airlifted to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. She has since been released from the hospital.
Harmon, troopers said, struck and killed Jacob Michael Lutz, 17, who was walking with a friend around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 2 on Love Valley Road.
Troopers said Harmon left the scene and was apprehended a short time later when Trooper Chad Crouse, who was working another crash, spotted a car with a broken windshield.
Both men also had past driving while impaired convictions. Harmon, reports said, had three previous DWIs, two in North Carolina in 1987 and 1988 and one in West Virginia earlier this year.
Harmon's record in Iredell County dates back more than 23 years and includes a number of speeding violations, most of which were pleaded down in court to lesser charges.
He was also arrested in 2000 for DWI, but no probable cause was found and the charge was dismissed.
Last year, Harmon was charged with failure to report an accident and failure to give information/aid to an injured person. Those charges were dismissed.
His latest arrest was one year ago on a charge of being intoxicated and disruptive.
Kohuth had two DWI convictions in Iredell County, both in 2006. He also received a boating while impaired citation in 2006.
As part of the conditions of his driver's license being reinstated from the second conviction, an alcohol interlock device was to be installed in his vehicle.
There was one in his sport utility vehicle, Trooper D.J. Reid said, but not one in the rollback wrecker he was driving on the day of the crash.
Kohuth's bond was initially set at $500,000, but was raised by an Iredell County District Court judge on the day of his arrest to $1 million because of the high blood alcohol level and his previous record.
Harmon's bond was set at $500,000.
Both face trial in Iredell County Superior Court. No trial dates have been set.
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