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July 23, 2008

<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Charges filed against Joplin man in fatality accident in Webb City<font color="#ff0000"> w/ Probable cause affidavit and charges </font>

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — A Joplin man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after the vehicle he was driving crashed Monday night, resulting in the death of a passenger.

Daniel R. Potter, 24, of 1216 Hill St., was charged by the Jasper County prosecutor’s office. He was transferred from the Webb City Jail to the Jasper County Jail in Carthage, and his bond was set at $5,000. No court date had been scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.

The charge alleges that Potter was intoxicated when his vehicle crashed on 14th Street near Gold Stream in Webb City. The vehicle overturned, throwing John W. Scofield, 25, of Baxter Springs, Kan., out. The car then landed on top of him. Scofield was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to a probable-cause statement filed Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court, Potter submitted to a breath test after the crash, and it reportedly showed his blood-alcohol content to be 0.163 percent, more than double Missouri’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.

In an interview with the Globe, Webb City police Chief Carl Francis said, “They were traveling in a straight direction, at a high rate of speed, and went to pass another vehicle.”

Potter’s car traveled over a ditch, flipped into the air and overturned several times.





Statement



The probable-cause statement alleges that Daniel Potter told officers he had been drinking before driving, but that he initially said he was the only occupant of the vehicle.

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