A Tulsa man is in custody following an investigation into a May hit-and-run accident in Nowata County that resulted in three fatalities.
Charles Davis Strong, Jr., 45, faces charges of three counts of murder in the second degree and is being held in the Nowata County Jail without bond.
11th Judicial District Attorney Rick Esser in a statement released Monday said Strong at the time of the accident was driving under the influence of intoxicants with a prior conviction for the same which in the State's eyes constitutes a felony.
"To cause the deaths of three people while committing a felony is murder in the second degree," he said.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, on May 9, Strong was driving a 1955 Chevy Bel Air southbound through Nowata County on U.S. Highway 169 returning from a carshow in Coffeyville, Kan., when at around 8:30 p.m, just north of County Road 15, he tried to pass a white pickup truck after having just passed 70-year-old Alfred Hobbs of South Coffeyville, driving a Lincoln Town Car.
15-year-old Kyler Blagg of Caney, Kan., was driving a Pontiac northbound when Strong, in passing the truck, forced Blagg off the road. Blagg in swerving to miss the Bel Air overcorrected and crossed the center line, colliding into Hobbs' car.
Strong fled the scene of the accident.
Blagg and his mother, Amy, 44, who was riding in the passenger seat were killed in the crash. A third person in the car sustained serious injuries and was transported St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.
Hobbs died four weeks later as a result of the injuries sustained in the crash. Anna Hobbs -- his wife -- and another passenger in the vehicle sustained serious injuries and had to be hospitalized.
Investigators later making contact with Strong interviewed him. Strong told them he was hired on May 9 to drive the Bel Air to a car show in Cherryvale, Kan. He said after the award's were presented at the show, he and his passenger, Brent Radke, were invited by the man who hired them -- the owner of the Bel Air -- to a tavern and grille for dinner.
Strong told investigators he recalled drinking a few beers and several shots of liquor prior to, during and after eating after which he said he and Radke then began making their way back to Tulsa -- Radke driving -- until somewhere south of the Oklahoma border the radiator line sprung a leak, which they then repaired.
Strong said after making the repair, Strong told Radke he could no longer drive and insisted on driving. After an argument, Strong said he took the driver's seat and drove the rest of the way without incident.
Strong told investigators he did not recall seeing a collision or cars leaving the roadway during the trip and claimed he not exceed the speed limit nor was he impaired by alcohol while driving.
During the investigation, officials spoke with Radke. Radke said at times during the trip Strong was driving at speeds near 110 miles per hour and "passed many cars and continued to drive recklessly." Radke said he begged Strong to slow down but Strong would not. He said Strong instead became angry and at one point started punching him.
Radke told investigators that at one point shortly after the altercation, Strong began to pass a semi-truck and was meeting a line of cars. Radke said he thought "it would be the end," that they would hit the cars head on. He said the cars swerved to miss them.
Radke reported being so scared of the way Strong was driving and remembering the cars Strong ran off the road and almost hit head on, two nights after the trip he "awoke in his sleep with a nightmare."
He said a couple weeks after the trip when he went to Strong's house to pick him up for work, Strong told him about a crash occuring the same time and day of their trip in which a black 1955 Chevy ran cars off the road and caused a fatality crash. Radke said he and Strong "began crying and knew they had caused the crash," said the report.
According to the affidavit, the investigation following the accident concluded that Strong had been driving the vehicle "in a reckless manner" and that Strong's reckless actions caused Blagg to swerve to avoid hitting Strong's vehicle, causing Blagg to lose control, cross the center line and strike the vehicle driven by Hobbs head on.
The report said based on several interviews it was also determined that Strong was intoxicated at the time of the collision.
