A 21 year-old man from Des Moines is facing new charges of vehicular homicide by OWI after toxicology reports show he was drunk at the time of the accident. He was originally charged with reckless vehicular homicide.

The man ran a red light this August and hit a SUV. His passenger and three passengers in the other vehicle survived, but a 17 year-old girl in the SUV did not survive. He has also been charged with four counts of serious injury by motor vehicle for causing the wreck.

If convicted, he could spend 25 years behind bars.

If you or someone you love has been injured or worse by a drunk driver, contact the Cedar Rapids OWI victim lawyer Pete Leehey at 319-294-4424

The death of a 19 year-old boy in a drunk driving accident earlier this summer shook the small town of Swisher, Iowa. But now investigators say the teenager was legally drunk, had traces of THC in his system, and was texting at the time of his accident just outside of Cedar Rapids.

The driver was on Walford Road when he went off the gravel road, rolled over, and eventually stopped in a ditch. The 16 year-old passenger was injured but managed to escape the accident without serious injury. Investigators say the passenger went to get help at a nearby house, but then went home and did not return to the scene of the accident.

The 19 year-old had a blood alcohol level of 0.181, which is nearly nine times the legal limit for minors (two times over the legal limit for adults 21 and older).

A 17-year-old Cedar Rapids teenager was killed last Monday morning in an alcohol-related rollover crash.

Authorities responded to reports of the accident around 1:40 AM Monday on Cottage Grove Avenue SE just west of 34th Street SE. Investigators determined that the driver of the car had lost control upon cresting the hill and lost control, resulting in the vehicle rolling over a number of times before striking a utility pole.

One of the passengers in the vehicle, a 17-year-old boy, suffered critical injuries and died in emergency care after being taken to St. Luke's Hospital and then University Hospital.

The 18-year-old driver of the car was charged for underage intoxication and public intoxication and taken to Linn County jail.

A 22-year-old Iowa City man was arrested on Friday evening and charged with second-offense drunken driving after hitting two Iowa City bicyclists. The two women cyclists, aged 35 and 20, were taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for their non-serious injuries.

According to police, the man was stopped at the intersection of Bowery and Gilbert streets around 5:40 p.m., waiting to turn south. The two cyclists were waiting to turn west at the same intersection. When the cyclists entered the intersection, the 22-year-old man's vehicle hit them.  

If you've been a victim of a drunk driver, or have been hit by a vehicle while bicycling, call the Cedar Rapids personal injury attorneys of the Pete Leehey Law Firm, P.C., at 319-294-4424.