Man who drove into Columbia home arrested
The man who crashed into a Columbia home last week turned himself into police Tuesday.
Arthur Evans, 74, turned himself into authorities at the request of the Traffic Unit officer who worked at the scene.
Evans was arrested for driving while intoxicated, a repeat offense, and careless and imprudent driving.
The morning of July 2, Evans drove into a home in the 1100 block of Vintage Drive.
Three residents of the home were inside at the time of the crash, but they were uninjured.
Police say Evans’ blood alcohol content level was over the legal limit of .08.
People ABC 17 News talked with Wednesday are worried because if another scene, like the one last week happens again, somebody could get seriously hurt. They said streets are usually busy throughout the day with grandchildren playing or residents walking their pets. Some tell us they’re now looking over their shoulder when their outside because of the crash last week.
“Was enough to get a lot of people’s attention. A lot of people walked up there and saw that and said, my goodness if there had been anybody walking or any of us walking there we could have been seriously injured,” Country Club Villas 1 Home Owners Association President Don Johnson said.
Johnson said he’s been talking with several people about growing concerns with Evans. But there’s not much the association can do but contact the police and let them do their job.
We asked police why it took them so long to arrest Evans.
“We didn’t really know the reason for the accident. All we know is he did not manage a curve and the car went over the curve and into a house,” Columbia police officer Latisha Stroer said.
Police said Evans was test driving the car he crashed. It wasn’t until police got a search warrant for Evans medical records to learn his blood alcohol was above the legal limit.
According to court records, Evans was involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 50 near Lee’s Summit on Dec. 30, 2012.
Just last month, prosecutors in Jackson County charged Evans for being a repeat offender of driving while intoxicated and operating a vehicle in a careless manner resulting in an accident. Department of Revenue officials said his license was still valid. He did have a previous alcohol suspension for DWI in 2007.
“Right now it’s probably not safe for him to be driving on the streets, it would concern me, I say it concerns people in the community,” Johnson said.
Evans has not been officially charged yet. The prosecutor says he is reviewing the case right now and could decide to file charges probably within the next 30 days.
