A preliminary hearing is scheduled for today for a Chicago man who allegedly grabbed the steering wheel of a car he was riding in contributing to a crash that injured a motorcyclist.
Carlos A. Garcia, 24, was charged Aug. 28 in Walworth County Circuit Court with first-degree reckless injury and first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Angelica R. Garcia, 29, was charged Aug. 15 in Walworth County Circuit Court with injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle causing great bodily harm; knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license causing great bodily harm to another; two counts of obstructing an officer; and operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license, second offense. Since the harm was done knowingly the personal injury attorney in Des Moines or elsewhere can help the injured get compensation. Furthermore, the reckless drivers can be held under a DUI charge.
According to the criminal complaint, a 2007 Pontiac G6 convertible and a 2003 Harley Davidson crashed on Highway 120 north of County Highway H in the Town of Bloomfield at about 1:05 p.m. Aug. 8. When police arrived, the motorcyclist, a 65-year-old man, was sitting on the Pontiac with his legs inside the rear passenger seat with rescue personnel attending to him, according to the complaint.
The man said he was driving north on Highway 120 when the Pontiac crossed the median into his lane of travel. He said he braked hard to avoid the collision but hit the passenger side of the car and was thrown from his motorcycle into the rear seat of the Pontiac upside down, according to the complaint.
Police spoke to the occupants of the Pontiac – Angelica Garcia and Carlos Garcia, both of whom said Carlos Garcia was driving at the time of the crash, according to the complaint. Two witnesses, one of whom said the car nearly struck her vehicle while driving south on Highway 120, said Angelica Garcia was driving the car, according to the complaint. Angelica Garcia admitted driving the car after a Town of Bloomfield investigator learned the intersection had cameras and informed Angelica Garcia she would be checking to see who was driving, the complaint states. Angelica Garcia smelled like alcohol and indicated signs of impairment on field sobriety tests, according to the complaint.
Angelica Garcia said Carlos Garcia jerked the steering wheel before the crash, the complaint states. Carlos Garcia admitted yanking the wheel because he and Angelica Garcia had been arguing and he was mad, according to the complaint.
