Columbia police make arrest in deadly overnight crash
UPDATE: A 28-year-old man is in custody, accused of crashing his car and killing another man early Sunday morning.
Columbia police said William Lalka was driving north on Stadium Boulevard near Blackfoot Road around 11:00 p.m. with thre passengers in the car. He apparently went off the road and the car became airborne, colliding with several trees and a utility pole.
Lalka and Celena Shearin, 26, got minor injuries. The third passenger, Andrew Helmreich, 26, was killed.
Lalka fled the scene. With the help of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 unit and assistance from the Highway Patrol’s helicopter, he was found at 12:30 a.m. near Iris and Lilac Drives.
He is facing two charges: DWI involving the death of another and negligent manslaughter.
Police said they believe alcohol was a contributing factor, but the investigation is still ongoing.
All three people in the car were wearing seatbelts.
ABC 17 looked in drunk driving statistics in Missouri and according to Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, there is on average 244 DWI fatalities each year, ranking Missouri 14th in the country.
According to crash reports, over the last three Homecoming Weekends, there were 22 car crashes on average.
ORIGINAL STORY: Columbia Police confirmed they are investigating a deadly crash early Sunday morning.
According to the department’s twitter page, the fatal crash occurred on Stadium Boulevard near Blackfoot Road.
ABC 17 News heard reports about the crash occurring around 11 p.m.
Police said they would be providing more details early Sunday morning.
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