A southbound Chevrolet Suburban ran off the road, clipped a guardrail and flipped into a ditch near the intersection of Pike County roads 416 and 417 Saturday night, leaving the 20-year-old driver and two passengers with serious injuries. All three were rushed to SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital in Lake Saint Louis, and hours later a 20-year-old Bowling Green man was arrested in connection with the crash on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
The crash happened around 7:55 p.m. at the rural Pike County intersection, according to whig.com, which reported that the 2006 Suburban ran off the right side of the roadway before striking a guardrail and overturning onto its passenger side. The driver, a 20-year-old Bowling Green man, was riding with a 20-year-old Hannibal woman and a 25-year-old Bowling Green man when the vehicle went off the road, the outlet reported. All three suffered serious injuries in the wreck.
Only One Seat Belt in Use
Emergency crews from two counties responded to get the injured to care. The Pike County Ambulance District transported the driver and the 25-year-old male passenger to St. Joseph Hospital, while the Montgomery County Ambulance District carried the 20-year-old female passenger to the same facility, per the same account. Of the three people inside the Suburban, only the female passenger was wearing a safety device; the driver and the male passenger were not, according to the report.
The Suburban was left with extensive damage and had to be hauled away from the scene by Bud Jones Towing, the outlet noted. The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the crash, and Highway Patrol Troop C responded to the incident, according to KOMU 8.
Arrest Hours Later on Suspected DWI
Roughly three hours after the crash, at 10:48 p.m. Saturday, Ford Shealor — a 20-year-old man from Bowling Green — was arrested in Pike County, KOMU 8 reported, citing a Highway Patrol arrest report. Shealor was detained on suspicion of two counts of felony DWI involving serious physical injury, careless and imprudent driving involving an accident, and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury, the station reported. He was released to the hospital following his arrest, per the same report.
Missouri law outlines that a driver can face a DWI-related injury charge when, while intoxicated, they act with criminal negligence and cause physical injury or serious physical injury to another person, according to the Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Separately, state law defines leaving the scene of an accident as occurring when the operator of a vehicle involved in a crash resulting in injury, death or property damage fails to meet certain statutory requirements, per the Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Neither statute excerpt establishes that Shealor met those elements, and no formal charges, bond decision or court disposition have been confirmed in connection with the arrest.
