Tulsa World: Affidavit: Tulsa man drinking, driving aggressively on night of triple-fatal wreck

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Affidavit: Tulsa man drinking, driving aggressively on night of triple-fatal wreck

Charles Davis “Davey” Strong, Jr., 45

By LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent
Published: 11/10/2009 2:07 PM
Last Modified: 11/10/2009 4:27 PM

NOWATA — A Tulsa man previously convicted of drunk driving was charged with three counts of second-degree murder in Nowata County alleging he killed three people by recklessly driving under the influence causing a May 2009 fatality accident on U.S. 169.

Charles Davis “Davey” Strong, Jr., 45, appeared in Nowata District Court on Tuesday on the charges in the deaths of Kyler Blagg, 15 and his mother Amy Blagg, 44, of Caney, Kan., and Alfred Hobbs, 70, of South Coffeyville. Bond in the case is set at $500,000.

A police affidavit filed in the case indicates Strong had been drinking heavily on May 9, when he reportedly climbed behind the wheel of a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Coup despite the objections of the friend traveling with him, Brent Radke. Strong was angry and was traveling about 110 mph when the accident occurred, according to Radke.

“Radke said Strong became so enraged that he started throwing punches at him as he was driving…” the affidavit states. “Shortly after the physical altercation, Strong began to pass a semi and was meeting a line of cars. Radke said he thought 'it would be the end’ and they would hit the cars head on. The line of cars had to swerve to miss them.”

Radke told police he looked back briefly and thought the cars had all made it around them. But they had not.

Witnesses told authorities the Bel Air passing the semi without sufficient clearance on the road and ran a vehicle driven by Kyler Blagg off the highway. Blagg overcorrected and crossed the center line hitting the Hobbs vehicle head on, authorities said. Kyler and Amy Blagg died in the crash, while passenger Tara Blagg sustained serious injuries.

Alfred Hobbs died four weeks after the crash. Passengers Anna Hobbs and Harold Tedford sustained serious injuries. The accident occurred at 8:33 p.m. on a section of U.S. 169 just north of Nowata County Road 15.

The distinctive features of the 1955 Bel Air were key to helping police solve the case and determine who had left the scene of the fatal accident, officials said. The coup was one of several classic cars owned by Jerry Line, of Coweta, who had entered the vehicles in a Cherryvale, Kan., car show that weekend.

Line, Strong and Radke visited a Cherryvale bar called My Place after the car show, the affidavit states. Line told police he noticed Strong had a lot to drink at the bar, so told Radke to drive the car back to his Tulsa area home.

Radke initially was the driver of the Bel Air, but the car overheated along the way prompting the duo to stop for a quick repair at a South Coffeyville home. When the repair was under way, Strong moved into the driver’s seat of the vehicle and refused to move, the affidavit stated.

“Radke said he told Strong several times to get out of the car — fearing he might try to drive the car once it started — but Strong would not get out,” the affidavit stated.

After arguing for a time and listening to Strong threaten to leave without him, Radke reluctantly got into the car and the Bel Air began its journey south on U.S. 169, the affidavit stated. Radke told police Strong drove very recklessly and he begged him to slow down.

When Strong was questioned by police, he said he had driven the coup back to Tulsa without incident and he did not recall observing any traffic collisions or any cars leaving the roadway during his trip. Strong told police he did not speed and he did not feel his judgment was impaired by alcohol consumption.

“Radke said he was so scared by the way Strong was driving and remembering the cars he ran off the road and almost hit head-on that he awoke in his sleep with a nightmare two nights later,” the affidavit stated.

“Radke said a couple weeks after the trip, he went to Strong’s house to pick him up for work and Strong told him about a crash that happened the day and time they were coming back in which a black 1955 Chevy ran cars off the road and caused a fatality crash. Radke said he and Strong both began crying and knew that they had caused the crash. Radke said he knew investigators would be coming to talk to them about the crash,” the affidavit stated.

A Jan. 13 preliminary hearing is set for Strong in the charges, which accuse him of “contemptuous and reckless disregard” of safety and human lives.

The charges filed by Nowata County District Attorney Rick Esser note Strong had three previous felony convictions in Tulsa county for driving under the influence. In 1990 Strong was sentenced to a suspended one-year jail term; in 1995 he received a one-year jail term to serve and in 1997, Strong received a two-year prison term.

In 2000, Strong again was sentenced to two years in prison for a felony conviction in Tulsa County of possession of a controlled substance. By LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "DUI alleged in deadly collision," which was published on 11/11/2009. So far, 29 comments have been made.