On Tuesday, a criminal complaint was released to the public stating that Dana Schoen's Blood Alcohol Level was .351 at the time of the crash when his 2005 Dodge pickup killed a five-month old infant and injured three other passengers in the 2008 GMC Acadia they were riding in.
Did you know?
According to recent statistics, over 173,000 people have died from drunk driving in the US in the past ten years.
If that's not an epidemic, I don't know what is.
**Update on Tuesday night: during conversations between the SMSU athletic director and Brad Bigler at the Sioux Falls hospital, Bigler reported that his wife swerved to avoid Schoen's Dodge truck once she realized he was coming into their north-bound lane. Schoen then swerved again towards the Biglers' 2008 GMC Acadia, and the collision happened.
The crash happened roughly one mile away from Schoen's home located south of Starbuck along Highway 29.
On Monday this week, Schoen was charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation charges by the Pope County Attorney's office.
Unofficially, I have heard that he may see anywhere from three to 10 years of jail time. Don't quote me on that, though!
According to the report from the crime scene by law enforcement officials, the entire passenger side of the Biglers' GMC Acadia sport utility vehicle was torn off and laying some distance from where the vehicle landed. The infant seat holding Drake was still inside the vehicle, but just barely, dangling from the seat belt. The first person to stop at the accident scene went straight to Drake's infant seat and attempted to stabilize it as well as Drake's head.
Unfortunately, the severely violent trauma sustained by the impact of the Dodge truck was too much for Drake to handle. He is now an Angel with God.