The Nebraska man awaiting charges in connection with a crash that killed four motorcyclists in western Iowa last month had a blood alcohol level more than four-and a-half times the legal limit for intoxication in Iowa.
According to the Iowa State Patrol’s final accident report, 21-year old Andrew Schlichtemeier’s blood alcohol level registered 0.373. The legal limit in Nebraska and Iowa is 0.08.
The crash occurred August 9 in a construction zone near the Little Sioux interchange on Interstate 29 where the freeway had been narrowed to two lanes. Authorities say a pickup truck driven by Schlichtemeier, of Murray, Nebraska, was traveling north on I-29, when it crossed the center line and hit four southbound motorcycles.
Each of the riders — 49-year-old Dale Aspedon and 62-year-old Dennis Chaney, both of Glenwood; 62-year-old Steven Benscoter, of Pacific Junction; and Jay C. Bock, of Omaha — died in the crash. The four were on their way home from the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
Schlictemeier has not yet been charged in criminal court. He remains in jail pending an official report from the state crime lab, which is processing blood-alcohol reports, toxicology reports and DNA evidence that will be turned over to the Harrison County Attorney’s office. According to reports, criminal charges may be filed as soon as next week.
Schlichtemeier already faces a civil lawsuit stemming from the crash. Cathryn Zanker, the widow of motorcyclist Dale Aspedon, filed suit in Harrison County Court earlier this week, alleging his negligence was the primary cause of the collision.
(Reporting by Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)