A White County man has been charged with felony negligent homicide, driving while intoxicated and other charges in the Oct. 23 traffic accident on Interstate 40 in Franklin County that killed an Oklahoma man.
Charges were filed Wednesday in Franklin County Circuit Court against 31-year-old David Ray Thomason of Bradford. In addition to the homicide and driving while intoxicated charges, Thomason was charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of failure to stop after an accident with injury or death, fleeing and reckless driving.
Thomason remained in the Franklin County jail in lieu of $150,000 bond Thursday, according to court records. A public defender was appointed to represent him, and his arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Ozark.
An Arkansas State Police accident report said tests showed Thomason had a blood-alcohol content of 0.12 percent. A person with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated in Arkansas.
Thomason was accused of ramming a 2017 GMC pickup and travel trailer while heading west on the interstate about 8:20 p.m. Oct. 23. The state police accident report said the pickup with the trailer was in the outside lane and the 2005 Pontiac minivan Thomason was driving approached from the inside lane and then moved into the outside lane where it struck the pickup and trailer.
The pickup and the minivan went off the road and struck trees. The minivan spun around after hitting a tree; the pickup and travel trailer hit several trees before tipping over on their sides.
Trapped in the pickup were Guy Holden, 68, of Chouteau, Okla., and his wife Patsy, 66, the state police report said. A registered nurse who came upon the accident scene, Delacy Parks of Warner, Okla., said in a statement that was included in the state police report that Guy Holden was complaining of pain in his left side and chest. He was coughing up blood, and his left arm was broken.
The Holdens had to be freed from their pickup. Guy Holden was pronounced dead later at a hospital in Van Buren, the state police report said.
Other motorists who stopped at the crash scene went to the minivan but couldn't find the driver. An arrest warrant affidavit by state police Senior Cpl. Rickey A Denton said someone reported seeing a man in a bloody shirt running down the interstate. A Franklin County sheriff's deputy was dispatched and arrested Thomason.
The accident report included statements from witnesses who said they saw the minivan driving excessively fast and erratically, swerving between lanes and nearly sideswiping vehicles, including a school bus and a tractor-trailer rig. Drivers on the road had to slow down and let the minivan pass or get out of the way to avoid being hit.
Denton's affidavit said another motorist told him the minivan hit his pickup about 5 miles east of the accident scene, injuring that motorist and his wife. The affidavit did not say how badly the two were injured or whether they received medical attention.
State Desk on 12/01/2017