Police: Driver in Grindstone crash was using cellphone, speeding

The woman accused of hitting two pedestrians on Grindstone Parkway in Columbia was speeding, using her cellphone and tired when the crash happened, investigators say.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Regine McCracken, 23, of Columbia, with second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault and careless and imprudent driving. McCracken was booked into the Boone County Jail early Wednesday on a $50,000 bond. Information about when and where she was arrested was not immediately available.

The crash happened May 5 after the 21st Annual TriZou Triathlon on Grindstone Parkway. Police said McCracken’s vehicle hit two men who were collecting cones after the event after changing lanes.

One of the men, Randall L. Siddens, 33, was seriously injured and sent to the hospital to undergo surgery. His recovery continues.

McCracken was driving 68 mph in a 50 mph zone, according to a probable cause statement filed in her case, and was using her cellphone for a video call. McCracken swerved after coming up on traffic slowing for a red light, hitting a parked vehicle and two men and almost hitting a police vehicle, according to police. One of the men was thrown nearly 130 feet, the statement said.

A police dashboard camera showed McCracken’s brake lights didn’t come on until after she hit the parked vehicle, according to the statement.

McCracken told police she was fatigued in part because of a recent stint in the hospital, the statement said.

In applying for McCracken’s arrest warrant, police wrote that she has been in road rage incidents since the crash.

A GoFundMe for Siddens has raised more than $47,000.