Man given suspended sentence, probation, ordered to pay $5,400 in restitution for leaving scene of crash

Colt Ryan York, 27, of Ava, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident with property damage exceeding $1,000 pursuant to a plea agreement with the state during the Dec. 22 Ozark County Law Day. 

He was given a suspended imposition of sentence and placed on probation for 5 years. The suspended sentence means that he does not have to go to prison. Instead, the probation term is the immediate punishment. If York completes the probation successfully, the charge will be removed from his record. If he violates probation, the judge can choose to execute the suspended sentence and send him to prison instead. 

York is also ordered to pay $5,400 in restitution to the victim in the case. As part of the agreement, additional charges of driving with a revoked or suspended license and operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner involving an accident were dismissed. 

 

The crash

According to the probable cause statement filed in the case by Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper John Roberts, the officer was dispatched to P Highway in the Theodosia area Wednesday, April 14. 

At 12:15 p.m. that day, Kathleen A. Keersemaker was driving a 2017 charcoal gray-colored Jeep Wrangler westbound on Highway 160 near P Highway. Keersemaker told Roberts that a green Chrysler Town and Country minivan was following her.

She said she turned onto Highway P, and the minivan turned as well, still behind her. The pair of vehicles continued southbound on P Highway for approximately 4 miles.

Keersemaker said that, on a blind curve, the minivan left the southbound lane and traveled across into the northbound lane in an apparent attempt to pass the Jeep. 

Before fully passing Keersemaker’s vehicle, the minivan attempted to return to the southbound lane, impacting Keersemaker’s Jeep in the front. 

Keersemaker said she made a controlled stop, but the driver of the minivan did not stop and continued down the highway, leaving the scene without making contact with Keersemaker. 

 

Trooper investigates the scene

Roberts arrived on scene at 12:45 p.m., about a half hour after the crash reportedly occurred. Roberts investigated the crash scene and spoke with Keersemaker, who told him that the driver of the minivan was a man with long, brown hair. Roberts left to try and find the other driver but was unsuccessful, the report says. 

 

An unrelated call to another agency

At 1:48 p.m., the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department received a call from Alissa Wood, who told a dispatcher that York was at her house and wouldn’t leave. Wood also told the dispatcher that York had taken her van earlier that day and returned home with the back end of the vehicle damaged. 

 

‘Slumped over and incoherent’

At 2:50 p.m. OCSD Deputy Seth Miller responded, arriving at Wood’s residence about two and a half hours after the accident on P Highway. 

Miller said York was sitting inside the van with the keys in the ignition when he arrived. The deputy noticed damage to the van that looked as if it had been involved in a crash. 

“Miller walked over to the van, [and] York was slumped over and was incoherent,” Roberts’ report says. “York said he had drove down to the lake, but wouldn’t admit that he had been involved in a traffic crash.”

Miller spoke with Wood, who reportedly told the officer that she’d made York leave earlier that morning because he was drinking alcohol. She said York did leave, using her van, but only to go get more alcohol and returned. 

Miller transported York to the Ozark County Jail for his own safety “due to his intoxication level,” the report says. 

 

An (intoxicated) interview

Roberts talked with Wood by phone later, and she said York was the only person who had driven the van that day. She confirmed that he was intoxicated. She told the trooper he had begun drinking around 5:30 a.m., and she was concerned that he’d been in a crash after seeing the damage to the van.

At 3:38 p.m., a little over three hours after the crash, Roberts spoke with York at the jail, where he’d been transported by Miller, who was concerned about his apparent high level of intoxication. 

“I immediately observed York was intoxicated by his slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, swaying and slow movement,” Roberts wrote. “York also smelled like an alcoholic beverage.”

York reportedly denied being in a crash or driving the van. He told the officer he wasn’t able to because he had his driving privileges revoked in February 2019. 

 

Gray paint on green van

Miller told Roberts the green van had charcoal- gray paint transferred on it. Roberts returned to Wood’s residence the next day and confirmed the gray paint. 

“York’s van damage was consistent with the damage with Mrs. Keersemaker’s Jeep. York’s van had paint transfer that is consistent with Mrs. Keersemaker’s Jeep,” Roberts wrote. 

Roberts photographed the van and took down Wood’s insurance information. He then visited Keersemaker’s residence and showed the woman photos of the green van. She positively identified it as the one involved in the crash. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423