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Man sentenced for crime he can't recall

Christian W. Eshenbaugh was sentenced today in Butler County Court for a crime he can’t recall.

Between the 2013 theft of about $30,000 worth of aluminum rims from a Middlesex Township salvage yard and sentence court today, the Allegheny County man suffered traumatic brain injuries in a horrific vehicle accident.

Since that collision in November 2013 — which killed a person — Eshenbaugh’s attorney Stephen Misko says his client has changed dramatically.

Before the crash, Eshenbaugh was having some problems and committing crimes related to drug use.

In the current case, Eshenbaugh admitted to investigators that he took rims, 20 to 30 at a time, from Marshall’s Junk Yard on Browns Hill Road during thefts over two months.

In all, police said, the business alleges 2,057 rims with a value of $33,323 were stolen.

Eshenbaugh pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Butler County Judge William Shaffer sentenced him to serve a year of probation and pay an amount of restitution to be determined later.

However, Misko said his client has now “turned his life 180 degrees.”

The rim thefts took place in June 2013, just months before Eshenbaugh was a passenger in a vehicle that drove into a tree on Warrandale Road. Misko said the driver died, and Eshenbaugh was treated for weeks at a Pittsburgh hospital, then months in a rehabilitation facility.

His memory and motor skills slowly have been returning.

What’s not returning is his former penchant for trouble.

“He is just a completely different person,” Misko said.

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