Tulsa World: Tulsa man arrested in May fatality wreck

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Tulsa man arrested in May fatality wreck

Charles Strong, Jr.

By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Published: 11/9/2009 12:15 PM
Last Modified: 11/9/2009 5:16 PM

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A Tulsa man was arrested Monday morning in connection with a triple-fatality car wreck in Nowata County earlier this year.

Charles Strong, Jr., was arrested in Tulsa on a warrant for three counts of second-degree murder. He has been transferred to the Nowata County Jail, where his bail will be $500,000, officials said.

Strong is accused of causing aMay 9 crash that killed Kyler Blagg, 15, and his mother, Amy Blagg, 44, of Caney, Kan. Alfred Hobbs, 70, of South Coffeyville also died.

Kyler Blagg was driving north on U.S. 169 near Delaware when he swerved to avoid Strong's 1950s Chevrolet Bel Air, which was southbound on the highway attempting to pass two cars.

Blagg's vehicle did not hit the Bel Air, but slid off the road to the right and then overcorrected left of center, hitting Hobbs' Lincoln Towncar head-on, officials said.

Strong allegedly left the scene of the crash and investigators had been seeking the public's help in locating the driver of the Bel Air. After 6 months, investigators connected the unique car to Strong and found witnesses who had seen him drinking at a bar before the wreck, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. George Brown said.

The evidence was enough for a Nowata County District Court judge to issue a bench warrant for Strong's arrest Monday morning, he said.

"This was some real good old-fashioned police work," Brown said.

Strong, Jr. has previously been in the Tulsa County Jail for driving under the influence and unlawful possession of a controlled drug, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Tulsa man arrested in fatal traffic crash," which was published on 11/10/2009. So far, 37 comments have been made.