Amish Buggy Hits Another Buggy in DUI Wreck; Parents Gave Alcohol To Teen Driver

This is not the type of buggy wreck story we are accustomed to seeing here. And fortunately, it sounds like the injured young man will recover.

But it does shine a light on questionable behaviors found in some Amish circles.

This story comes to us from the Amish settlement in Adams County, Indiana – which in itself is not exactly a surprise (more on that below).

What Happened: Buggy Hits Buggy Head-On

Early this past Saturday morning (just after midnight, so also known as “late Friday night”), an Amish buggy driven by a  19-year-old attempted to pass another buggy.

It failed, and ended up hitting a third buggy head-on. More details from the Mercer County Outlook:

A 19-year-old, who had just left a birthday party where the homeowners had given him and other visitors alcohol, was driving a buggy when he tried to pass a buggy that was in front of him.

That is when two buggies coming from the opposite direction saw the first oncoming buggy and swerved into a ditch to avoid the crash, but the second buggy would collide with the 19-year-old’s buggy head-on.

After the crash the 19-year-old was found to be unconscious and missing two teeth. He was taken to a Fort Wayne hospital for treatment of his injuries, including a concussion, swelling, abrasions and bruising.

Here is more detail on what happened:

Upon investigation, Deputies learned that a buggy operated by Stephen MK Schwartz (age 19) was driving westbound on CR 200 South between CR 400 East and CR 300 East. It was following another westbound buggy operated by Henry S Schwartz (age 21).

There were at least 2 eastbound buggies, west of Stephen and Henry. Henry observed both eastbound buggies. The first eastbound buggy was operated by Kathryn N Wickey (age 25). The second buggy was operated by Laura N Wickey (age 21).

For an unknown reason, Stephen attempted to pass Henry’s buggy into the oncoming eastbound buggy traffic. Stephen said he did not see the buggies until the last second. Kathryn was able to maneuver her buggy into the ditch to the south, around Stephen’s buggy. Laura attempted to maneuver her buggy in the same manner, but was unable to avoid Stephen’s buggy.

Stephen’s buggy crashed head-on into Laura’s buggy in the eastbound lane of CR 200 South. As a result of the crash, Stephen suffered multiple injuries to include loss of 2 teeth, swelling, abrasions, and bruising to the face, unconsciousness, and a concussion. Laura suffered minor scratches to her forehead.

Through thorough follow-up investigations by Deputies, it was discovered that Stephen had left a birthday party at a residence on CR 500 East, owned by David LL and Annie A Schwartz, who admitted to furnishing alcohol to those present, including Stephen. When Deputies questioned David about furnishing alcohol, he stated, “I didn’t think one (drink) would hurt anybody.”

The adults who provided alcohol face charges

“Homeowners” – described in the headline as “parents” – are facing charges for their role in providing alcohol to the minors. Here’s more from WANE:

The investigation revealed the 19-year-old was leaving a birthday party where the homeowners had given him and other visitors alcohol.

Police said when they asked one of the homeowners about providing alcohol, his response was, “I didn’t think one [drink] would hurt anybody.”

David LL Schwartz and Annie A Schwartz now face charges of furnishing alcohol to minors, proximate cause to serious injury, a Level 6 felony.

The buggies coming from the opposite direction had also been at a gathering where the homeowner gave them alcohol, including some minors.

That homeowner admitted to deputies that minors consume alcohol on his property, which he said he allows if they stay at the home.

Mahlon K Schwartz faces a count of providing use of property for minor consumption, a Class C infraction. Naoma RM Schwartz faces a count of furnishing alcohol to minors, a Class B misdemeanor.

In some non-Amish households, parents allow teens to drink if they stay at home, which is a controversial practice but not unheard of in the non-Amish world. It sounds like something similar here.

However, it is possible the ones facing felonies are perhaps older married siblings or other relatives of the teenagers involved.

That noted, WANE describes them as “Parents” in their headline (“Parents, teen charged for OWI crash involving buggies in Adams County”).

It doesn’t say whose parents they were – it could have been the 19-year-old driver’s, or perhaps someone else’s in the friend group.

The Adams County Amish & Alcohol

And on that note, the Adams County Amish community has long had a reputation when it comes to alcohol use. So in some sense a story like this is not a huge surprise.

It’s safe to say that alcohol use is more accepted and prevalent there among both the adults and youth. I’m not talking about every last Amish person in the community, of course. But it is more a part of the local culture there than in many or most other communities.

For that matter, Amish use of, and attitudes toward alcohol varies. In some communities, such as New Order Amish churches, it is essentially rejected, in others, some may consume alcohol in moderation, such as homemade wine, for “health purposes”. And in others, alcohol use is fairly common, even hard liquor.

So this story ends up with Amish adults and teens (with the youngest at the age of 19, technically adults as well) being charged with misdemeanors and felonies. And yes, buggy drivers can be charged with DUI – or technically, OWI in this case – as we’ve seen in a number of other instances.

A public story like this won’t be enough to change the culture, but maybe it will cause enough embarrassment at least to get some to rethink how they do things.

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