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Missouri driver charged with DWI in crash that killed four motorcyclists, injured six others

A Missouri driver who on Saturday crossed the center line of a highway and hit five motorcycles, killing four people who were either drivers or passengers, has been charged with a felony.

Theresa Manetzke, 51, of Aurora, was charged with a DWI involving the death of two or more people. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.

Manetzke, who was arrested at the scene, was released to seek medical treatment. She also suffered serious injuries in the wreck.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which led the investigation, said Manetzke was driving a Toyota Corolla south on Missouri 39 in Lawrence County, three miles north of Aurora, when the car veered out of its lane, hit five motorcycles in the northbound lane, and came to rest in the ditch.

The crash was reported at 11:20 a.m. Saturday. All the drivers and passengers involved were from Aurora and were wearing safety devices, the patrol has said.

Previously: Four dead after vehicle crosses center line, strikes five motorcycles on Missouri highway

Motorcyclists killed and injured

The four who died in the crash were either motorcycle drivers or passengers, including a 17-year-old female, whose name was not released because she is a minor. Others killed were Kameron Hale, 28; Linda Anderson, 61; and James Olmsted, 59, whose motorcycle caught on fire, killing him and the juvenile female passenger.

According to court documents filed in the case, the troopers responding to the scene found injured people in the ditch on the east side of the roadway

After Manetzke's Toyota struck the motorcycles, the bikes overturned, ejecting drivers and passengers, before they came to rest off the east side of the roadway.

The Toyota, with heavy damage to its front end, was in the ditch on the west side of roadway. Manetzke was sitting on the ground near her vehicle.

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Manetzke told troopers she had taken "several anti-psychotic medications" at about 9 a.m., before getting behind the wheel, according to the court documents.

A trooper who conducted field sobriety tests on Manetzke concluded she was "drug impaired," the documents stated.

At the scene, after being placed under arrest, Manetzke agreed to provide a requested blood sample, which was taken before she left the scene.

Six other people were also seriously injured, including 54-year-old Jesse Clinkenbeard, who was driving the 2006 Harley motorcycle that Anderson was a passenger in; Cody Zielinski, 35, and his passenger, Jessica Zielinski, 35; Darrell Trueblood, 37, and his passenger Krista Trueblood, 30; and a 16-year-old female, who was a passenger on Hale's 2005 Honda motorcycle.

The injured victims were transported to CoxSouth or Mercy hospitals in Springfield.

The four killed at the scene were transported to funeral homes in Aurora or Pierce City.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri highway fatal motorcycle crash: Driver charged with DWI