Driver Faces Two Dui Charges For Accident That Injured Two

Fri., May 19, 1995

The driver of a Corvette that wrecked at high speed in a Coeur d’Alene neighborhood was charged Thursday with two drunken driving crimes.

Kootenai County prosecutors charged Robert A. Thomas with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence.

Thomas’ two passengers, Victoria VanHorn and her brother Rick VanHorn, were severely injured in the Jan. 7 crash.

Deputy Prosecutor Scot Nass said tests show Thomas’ blood-alcohol level was .11, when he sped his sports car down Harrison Avenue at 90 mph.

A driver is considered legally drunk when his blood alcohol level reaches .10.

Idaho State Police officials believe Thomas lost control of his 1992 Corvette after flying over a rise in the road near Ninth Street.

The ensuing wreck left car parts scattered along two neighborhood blocks.

All three people were thrown from the car. Victoria VanHorn suffered massive head injuries and remains in a persistent vegetative state, Nass said. Her brother’s spine was broken in the crash, he said.

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Driver Faces Two Dui Charges For Accident That Injured Two

Jesse Tinsley

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