Both drivers reportedly arrested for DWI in February crash

A $50,000 cash-only bond has been issued for Patricia L. Hobbs of Jordan, Arkansas, in connection with the allegation that she was reportedly driving under the influence of drugs Feb. 17 and acted with criminal negligence when she crossed the center line of Highway 5 south of W Highway and hit another vehicle head-on, resulting in the death of that driver, Michael Clark of Flippin, Arkansas. 

Head-on crash details

The charging document says Hobbs is alleged to have been under the influence of Oxycodone, Clonazepam and Midazolam, all controlled substances, while driving that day.

She has been charged with the class B felony of causing the death of a person by driving while intoxicated. She could face between five and 15 years in prison if convicted of the charge. 

The Missouri State Highway Patrol online crash report filed the day of the crash said Clark, 59, was transported by ambulance to Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas, where he was pronounced dead at 5:11 p.m. According to the report, the accident occurred at 3:50 p.m. Feb. 17 when Hobbs, driving a 1996 Chevrolet Silverado southbound, crossed the center of the roadway and struck head-on the 2005 Toyota Tundra driven northbound by Clark.

Hobbs was wearing a seat belt, according to the report; Clark was not. Both vehicles were totaled.

According to the probable cause statement prepared by MSHP Trooper Dakota Nash, the trooper was dispatched to the crash on Highway 5 south, about a half-mile south of W Highway at 3:52 p.m. Feb. 17. 

When he arrived on scene, Nash reportedly spoke with both drivers, Hobbs and Clark, the statement says. 

Two pints of alcohol in the floorboard

Nash wrote that he spoke with Clark as EMS personnel were helping him exit his vehicle.

“I could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from his breath as he spoke to me,” Nash wrote in his report. 

As Clark was helped from his vehicle, Nash noticed two pint-sized bottles of liquor in the driver’s side floor board, the report says. One bottle was full and another was nearly empty. 

Nash reportedly asked Clark how much he’d had to drink that day.

“Just a little bit,” Clark reportedly answered. “I just got off work…a couple drinks.”

Nash said Clark’s eyes were watery and his speech was slurred when he spoke. 

Emergency personnel then placed Clark on the stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance, while Nash went to speak with the other driver.

 Prescription pills in the floorboard

Nash reportedly asked Hobbs what happened.

“I wrecked,” she reportedly answered. 

Nash asked how she wrecked, the report says.

“I don’t know. A car hit me,” she said. 

Nash wrote in the report that Hobbs’ pupils were constricted and her speech was also slurred, mumbled and incoherent. He also noted that Hobbs’ demeanor was “extremely lethargic.”

Nash said that as EMS personnel attempted to remove her from the vehicle, he noticed a pill bottle in the driver’s side floorboard containing Oxycodone pills. 

Nash reportedly asked the woman if she took the medication.

“No. I do,” she replied, the report says. When Nash asked what she took the medication for, she reportedly answered, “pain.”

Both driver’s ‘arrested’ and released for medical treatment

Nash placed Hobbs’ under arrest for driving while intoxicated with drugs at 4:17 p.m., 25 minutes after he was first dispatched to the crash. Nash said the arrest was “due to Hobbs’ lethargic demeanor, her poor driving, her constricted pupils, her slurred, mumbled and incoherent speech, the bottle of Oxycodone in her floor board…”

Nash reportedly read the woman the Missouri implied-consent law in the ambulance, and she agreed to the officer’s requested blood test. 

At 4:21 p.m., four minutes after he arrested Hobbs, Nash placed Clark under arrest for driving while intoxicated with alcohol. Nash said the arrest was “due to Clark’s admission to drinking, the strong odor of intoxicants coming from his breath, his slurred and mumbled speech, a near empty bottle of liquor in the driver side floor board and his watery eyes…”

Nash also read Clark the Missouri implied consent law while he was loaded in a separate ambulance, and he also agreed to the officer’s requested blood test. 

Blood tests

Both drivers were transported to Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Nash requested that the blood draws be conducted in the ambulances, but both sets of EMS workers explained that it wasn’t possible. The medical workers in the ambulance transporting Hobbs told Nash that it was not possible due to her critical condition, and the ambulance transporting Clark reportedly told the officer they did not have needles in the ambulance that were needed to draw his blood.

Nash finished his investigation at the crime scene and went to Baxter Regional Medical Center, the report says. When he arrived, hospital personnel reportedly told him Clark had succumbed to the injuries he endured during the crash. 

Nash went to Hobbs’ room at 6:02 p.m. and watched as a phlebotomist used a non-alcoholic prep pad and drew blood from the woman’s right arm. The sample was secured into evidence and was submitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol lab for drug testing.

Baxter County, Arkansas, coroner Brad Hays drew Clark’s blood and sent the sample to the Arkansas lab for testing. The result of that test will be included in Hays official report on the death, the report says.