Victoria Schweitzer was just 19 years old with her whole future ahead of her. On Monday evening around 6:38 p.m., the Deshler native was driving her 2021 Chevrolet Malibu north along State Route 65. She had 18-year-old Brian Boggs sitting in the passenger seat beside her. It was a quiet end to the holiday weekend, but in an instant, everything changed at a rural intersection.
A 2018 Dodge Charger came heading east down Santa Fe New Knoxville Road. At the wheel was 26-year-old Benjamin Pruyn from Marysville. According to state troopers, Pruyn failed to yield and drove right past the stop sign posted at the junction. He slammed directly into the side of Schweitzer’s oncoming car.
The force of the crash sent both vehicles flying off the road and into nearby cornfields. The Dodge Charger even ripped through a stop sign before coming to a complete halt in the high corn. When emergency crews from St. Johns Fire and EMS arrived at the scene, the wreckage was scattered across the rural landscape.
First responders rushed to check on the young occupants, but the outcome was tragic. Schweitzer had suffered severe injuries from the direct impact. Paramedics pronounced her dead right there at the scene.
Her passenger, Brian Boggs of Jackson Center, survived the initial crash but suffered serious injuries. Medics quickly loaded him into a ground ambulance and rushed him straight to Lima Memorial Hospital. Meanwhile, Pruyn and his 18-year-old passenger, Mia Mills, walked away with only minor bumps and bruises and did not need hospital transport.
Investigators from the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol worked late into the evening mapping out the crash site. Troopers noted that neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to play a role in the fatal wreck. Still, members of the small community are struggling to process how a routine drive ended in such an sudden tragedy.
Friends and neighbors in Deshler and nearby towns are coming together to remember a bright young woman taken far too soon. The crash serves as a stark reminder of how fast a regular evening can change on local backroads. The Highway Patrol continues to review the accident details as the local community mourns the loss.
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