CEDAR CITY — An allegedly impaired driver was arrested in Parowan early Saturday morning after crashing his car into a parked vehicle and seriously injuring two other people.
Chase A. Neuenschwander, 25, was booked into Iron County Jail shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday on suspicion of two counts of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious bodily injury, each a third-degree felony, and reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor.
The incident reportedly occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. on 300 East at about 100 South, just to the west of the newly renovated Parowan City Pool.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of Neuenschwander’s arrest, Parowan Police responded to a call of an unknown problem and arrived to find two men sitting on the curb.
Nearby, was the wreckage of a white Jeep SUV that was blocking the road, along with a heavily damaged white pickup truck with a camper shell, which had been smashed into the curb.
Neuenschwander, who was identified by witnesses as the driver of the Jeep, reportedly told the arresting officer that he was intoxicated.
“I smelled the odor of alcohol coming from Chase’s breath as well,” the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit, adding, “Chase was combative and non-cooperative.”
Meanwhile, inside the pickup truck, which had been legally parked on the side of the street, were a man and a woman who had been sleeping inside the camper. The man sustained serious spinal injuries in the crash, Parowan Police Chief Addison Adams told Cedar City News.
“He had some head injury and trauma as well,” Adams added “I believe they took him to the hospital in an ambulance and he was then maybe flown to St. George.”
As for the woman, Adams said she initially told officers she was fine and didn’t require medical treatment.
However, a day or so later, Adams said the woman called the investigating officer to say she had also sustained back injuries.
“It turned out she had spinal trauma as well, some fractures in her spine,” Adams said.
Neuenschwander’s adult male passenger sustained serious injuries, including multiple lacerations that required stitches, Adams added.
“He said he couldn’t put any weight on his leg when I talked to him the next day,” Adams said.
Although Neuenschwander himself wasn’t injured in the crash, he was taken by the arresting officer to Cedar City Hospital for medical clearance. After police obtained a warrant, a nurse took Neuenschwander’s blood sample to be tested for alcohol levels, according to the affidavit. He was then transported to Iron County Jail, where he is being held without bail pending his initial court appearance.
Adams said Neuenschwander initially told police he had been going “maybe 50 or so” mph as he was heading south on 300 East.
“But then, one of the deputies overheard the passenger tell the medical personnel that they were going over 100 (mph),” Adams added.
Adams said the speeding vehicle went out of control after hitting the bump or dip where 300 East intersects with Center Street.
The Jeep then continued south for about a half block before veering to the left and impacting the parked pickup truck, which had been facing north and had an attached trailer that was carrying a side-by-side OHV.
Both vehicles sustained heavy damage and needed to be towed from the scene.
Adams said the pickup truck kept the SUV from knocking down a power pole located on the grass strip between the pool fence and the street.
“They would have hit the power pole for sure,” he said.
This report is based on statements from court documents and law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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