Report: Blood-alcohol elevated in fatal crash

A Topeka motorist's blood alcohol level was roughly three times the legal limit when he was killed in a traffic accident in late March in southeast Topeka, according to an autopsy report.

Toxicological testing found blood alcohol levels of 0.22 percent in vitreous fluid and 0.25 percent in the chest cavity of Jeremy Allen Gerhardt, 35, according to the report from an autopsy conducted by district coroner Charles Glenn.

"The discrepancy between these values is consistent with the consumption of a large volume of ethanol in the minutes before death," Glenn wrote.

Kansas law considers a motorist intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol level is 0.08 percent.

The autopsy report also showed marijuana in Gerhardt's system.

Autopsy

Gerhardt died accidentally of blunt trauma injuries, Glenn concluded.

Court records show Glenn submitted the autopsy report Nov. 9 to the Shawnee County District Court clerk's office, which released it this past week in response to a request from The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Glenn died at the scene of an accident reported at 10:47 p.m. March 25 at S.E. 37th and Indiana, Topeka police said.

They said Gerhardt was alone driving a pickup truck when it struck a car driven by Theresa Hooper, 56, who drove away.

Gerhardt's pickup then struck a bridge pillar and caught fire. Witnesses pulled him out but he died at the scene.

Hooper was later located and booked into the Shawnee County Jail in connection with leaving the scene of a traffic accident involving a death, which is a felony, police said.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said Wednesday that the Kansas Highway Patrol was investigating and he planned to make a decision regarding potential criminal charges after they forwarded reports to his office and he reviewed the case.

District court records show an attorney representing Gerhardt's two daughters, ages 10 and 1, filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit on their behalf against Hooper on Aug. 31. A district court judge on Sept. 12 approved settlements through which Hooper's auto insurance company agreed to pay $100,000, court records show.

Contact reporter Tim Hrenchir at (785) 295-1184 or @timhrenchir on Twitter.

Credit: By Tim Hrenchir [email protected]