Jul 29, 2023 3 min read

A Canton Township couple who rode their motorcycle through wet concrete in a construction zone on Route 18/50 in Mt. Pleasant Township in May pleaded guilty during their summary trial Thursday.

John Lawrence Riggle, 50, and Tonya L. Riggle, 46, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors, who dropped a felony criminal mischief charge in order for both to plead guilty to a summary citation of criminal mischief.

John Riggle also pleaded guilty to disobeying a traffic control device, while a citation for operating a motorcycle without valid inspection was withdrawn.

As part of the deal, the Riggles’ insurance carrier agreed to pay the construction contractor a large portion of the nearly $45,000 in damage caused by the incident, Mt. Pleasant Township police Chief Matthew Tharp said.

District Judge Lou McQuillan ordered John Riggle to pay $470.50 in fines and court costs, while Tonya Riggle was sentenced to pay $268.50, according to online court records.

The Riggles and a tractor-trailer driver were charged following two incidents just hours apart from each other on May 15 when Mt. Pleasant Township police said they disobeyed road closure signs in the construction zone and drove onto fresh cement.

The trucker, Douglas B. Harlan, was driving north on Route 18 about 3:45 p.m. when he encountered a “road closed” sign and barriers in the construction zone near the intersection with Route 50. But instead of turning around, police said he drove past the barriers and onto the freshly poured concrete, causing his rig’s tires to immediately dig into the surface and leave deep, long ruts. Police said Harlan’s vehicle caused “extensive” damage to the roadway, which the construction contractor estimated cost $81,812 to fix.

Harlan, 68, of Toledo, Ohio, was charged with felony criminal mischief and cited for obedience to traffic control devices, and is scheduled for his preliminary hearing before McQuillan at 10 a.m. Nov. 9.

Less than four hours after Harlan allegedly drove through the construction zone, the Riggles rode up to the area on their way back to their Canton Township home and saw similar signs. Tonya Riggle got off the back of the bike and moved the barriers so John Riggle could proceed, but his motorcycle immediately “submerged” into the cement, police said. Photographs taken by investigators at the scene showed the motorcycle sustained extensive damage from the wet concrete.

Riggle told police his wife was having a migraine and that he was trying to get her home as soon as possible so it didn’t develop into something worse, according to court documents.

Despite the back-to-back incidents, construction crews were able to fix the roadway and reopen the heavily traveled intersection on May 19, which was a day earlier than anticipated. Part of the intersection had been closed to traffic for 10 days while crews worked in the area as part of the $8.1 million project making improvements to Route 18 heading toward Washington.