A Springfield man with a long history of DWI convictions has been charged with drunken driving causing the death of another person in connection to a July 9 accident in which one of his passengers was killed.
Isaac Andrew Johnston, 39, was charged Monday, 15 months after the fatality. The passenger who died last year was Lana K. Reed, 51.
Court documents show Johnston was arrested for DWI, again, only three months after Reed was killed while he was at the wheel.
According to documents regarding Johnston's Oct. 16, 2022 arrest, the arresting officer wrote:
“A search of Johnston's vehicle yielded an empty shot container of American Honey whiskey. Further search of the center console yielded three more shot containers with a small amount of liquid in each. In the passenger seat underneath a jacket, I seized a half empty bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey.
“While en route to jail, Johnston became verbally violent, screaming at the top of his lungs. Johnston made spontaneous utterances of how he started speeding because I was following him, and he could ‘see my lights in the distance.'”
Tests later revealed Johnston's blood-alcohol-content was .18 percent, according to court documents.
The officer further wrote, “Prior to his arrest, Johnston was the driver in a motor vehicle crash that resulted in the death of a passenger in his car where impairment was suspected.”
In total, defendant faces four charges
In addition to the DWI-causing-the-death-of-another charge, which is a class C felony under Missouri law, Johnston also was charged on Oct. 16 with DWI causing physical injury, a class E felony.
Johnston has two other charges pending from his Oct. 16 arrest: DWI and driving while revoked or suspended.
According to court records, Johnston has DWI convictions from 2002, 2003 and 2008.
The 2022 fatal accident occurred, according to Springfield police, at 11:34 on a Saturday night when Johnston was driving his 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo south on Grant Avenue when it entered the center lane to pass a 2014 Nissan Altima.
The Monte Carlo then collided head-on with a northbound 2005 Volkswagen Touareg SUV.
The impact between the Monte Carlo and the Touareg caused both vehicles to spin, and the Monte Carlo then collided with the Nissan, which ran off the road.
Johnston and two of his passengers were taken by ambulance to a Springfield hospital, where Reed died.
