A family from northwest Iowa went to the statehouse yesterday to speak on behalf of a bill they say might help families who find themselves in the tragic situation they faced five months ago. Lisa Oetken’s parents, Rhonda Johnson and Roger Oetken, went to the Iowa Legislature to talk about their daughter’s fatal car wreck. This past September 27th, at about 8:30 at night, Rhonda Johnson says her daughter was instantly killed near Radcliffe when her car was hit by a driver who’d been trying to elude police. Two other girls in the car were seriously injured. Lisa’s parents, along with Lisa’s boyfriend and siblings, are lobbying for a bill which would let officers at the scene of a wreck that kills or seriously injures someone to immediately collect a blood sample from a suspected drunk driver. Lisa’s father, Roger Oetken, says the bill, which passed the House yesterday, closes a loophole drunken drivers have used to delay tests so they could get out of being accused of drunken driving.A lawyer for Michael Dunn, the man arrested at the scene of Lisa’s accident, says his client voluntarily submitted a urine sample, and that sample and another taken awhile later showed his client had no alcohol in his system. The attorney says Lisa’s parents are “exaggerating the circumstances of the case in order to get the bill passed.” Dunn is from the Story City area, but his most recent address is Omaha. Dunn is scheduled to go on trial March 18th to face criminal charges int he case. Lisa Oetken’s parents have filed a civil lawsuit against Dunn.
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