A charge of child endangerment has been added to the OWI charge filed against a Jefferson woman who caused a three-vehicle collision Monday night on Iowa Highway 141 south of Bouton.
Brooke Venteicher, 40, of 207 N. Oliver St., Jefferson, was arrested for first-offense OWI, child endangerment-no injury, reckless driving and driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway.
Venteicher entered Iowa Highway 141 in a 2014 Ford Explorer shortly before 7 p.m. Monday, traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes and eventually colliding with two vehicles.
According to a report from the Iowa Sate Patrol, Venteicher’s vehicle struck a 2018 Cadillac XTS Luxury, driven by Matthew Sass of Perry, causing about $15,000 in damage to Sass’ vehicle’s rear driver side.
Robert Martinez, 18, of Jamaica in The Explorer also struck a 2013 Toyota Scion, driven by Robert Martinez of Jamaica. Martinez’s vehicle sustained about $7,000 in damage to the rear driver side.
Damage to Venteicher’s vehicle was estimated at $24,000.
Venteicher allegedly “admitted to driving the wrong direction” and said that “she can’t see well at night,” according to court records.
Venteicher told a deputy sheriff “that while driving on the wrong side of the road, her 14-year-old son advised her she was on the wrong side of the road and not heading in the right direction home,” according to court records.
Venteicher allegedly “admitted to drinking alcohol in the form of a fish bowl margarita,” according to court records, and later “made statements about not remembering if she had more than just the fishbowl.”
Venteicher is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 18 in Dallas County District Court.
Along with the Iowa State Patrol and the Dallas County Sheriff’s office, the Perry Police Department, Perry First Responders, Bouton Volunteer Fire Department and Dallas County EMS also responded.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
