Magruder suffered stroke before crashes

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Watergate conspirator Jeb Stuart Magruder suffered a stroke that apparently led to crashes with two vehicles this week, police said Friday.

Magruder, 72, has been hospitalized since Monday, when his car rear-ended a motorcycle, then hit a box truck about a mile farther down state Route 315, an expressway that runs through Columbus.

Police said he was cited Thursday on counts of failing to maintain proper distance and leaving the scene of an accident. Accident investigators concluded that Magruder had had a stroke, police spokeswoman Amanda Ford said Friday.

Magruder has an Aug. 3 arraignment, and prosecutors intend to proceed with their case, said Robert Levering, an assistant city prosecutor. He said a medical condition is not generally a legal defense by itself.

Magruder was hospitalized in serious condition after Monday's crashes. A Riverside Methodist Hospital spokeswoman, Christina Fitzer, said Friday she can't discuss Magruder's condition.

Messages left Friday and throughout the week for Magruder at his Columbus home and office have not been returned.

The former aide to President Nixon served seven months in federal prison for his role in covering up the 1972 Watergate break-in. Later, Magruder trained for the ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. He served churches in California, Ohio and Kentucky. He also worked for Colorado-based Young Life, a ministry to high school students, and as a fundraising consultant. He retired to suburban Columbus four years ago.

In July 2003, Magruder made national headlines with his claim that he heard Nixon order the break-in that led to the president's resignation. Historians dismissed the notion as unlikely.