Man charged after Highway 95 crash
SANDPOINT — A Bayview man is facing an array of felony and misdemeanor criminal charges after crashing into a stopped vehicle on U.S. Highway 95 on Wednesday.
Karl Lawrence Hengeveld is charged with operating a vehicle without the owners’ consent, driving under the influence, driving without privileges, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Judge Barbara Buchanan set Hengeveld’s bail at $25,000 on the felony unauthorized use of a vehicle charge and appointed a public defender to represent him, court records show. Bail was set at $20,000 for the four misdemeanor charges.
The crash happened at the Sagle Road intersection shortly before 4 p.m.
Hengeveld, 62, told an Idaho State Police trooper he was headed south on the highway when the driver of a Jeep turned in front of him. That account, however, is at odds with several witness accounts and evidence discovered on the roadway, Trooper Leslie Lehman said in her report.
Witnesses said Hengeveld was driving in the southbound passing lane when he used the center turn lane to try and overtake a recreational vehicle that was in the passing lane, the trooper’s report said. The Toyota Tacoma pickup Hengeveld was driving then crashed into the rear end of the Jeep, which was in the turn lane and waiting for traffic to clear, the report said.
Lehman’s report indicated that debris and marks on the road supported the witness accounts.
Hengeveld reportedly admitted to consuming alcohol and even estimated his blood alcohol concentration was a 0.18. He also admitted his California driver’s license was suspended for drunken driving.
Hengeveld was arrested on suspicion of DUI after refusing to complete field sobriety tests. Hengeveld’s breath alcohol concentration was measured at 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08, the report said.
The occupants of the Jeep, a man and woman, were taken to an undisclosed hospital following the crash.
The woman was five months pregnant, but told the trooper after the collision that she and the baby were doing OK. The male passenger in the Jeep reportedly suffered a concussion.
Hengeveld told the trooper the owner of the truck, which sustained more than $10,000 in damages, had previously given him permission to use the rig, but did not give permission on the day of the crash, the report said.