A Platte City man remains in custody, charged with a felony for vehicular manslaughter following a fatal two-vehicle crash on Interstate 29.
Nicholas Sanders
According to court documents, officers made contact with Nicholas N. Sanders, 24, at about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 28 at the scene of the crash and detected bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol on his breath. He admitted having three beers and three shots of whiskey at a downtown Kansas City bar earlier in the evening.
Sanders failed field sobriety tests, and a preliminary breath test revealed his blood-alcohol level to be .313 percent — nearly four times the legal limit. He was arrested on suspicion of DWI, and on Tuesday, May 31, the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office filed a charge of vehicular manslaughter against Sanders, who remains in the Platte County Detention Center in lieu of a $100,000 cash-only bond.
Michael R. Sear, 58, of Kansas City, Kan., the driver of the other vehicle, was pronounced dead at a local hospital about an hour after the crash.
According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, Sanders, 24, was driving northbound in a 2015 Subaru Crosstrek when he attempted to pass Sear’s 2016 Kia Soul. Sanders struck the vehicle, sending both cars into the median cable barrier near the Mexico City Avenue exit.
Both drivers were wearing their seatbelt at the time of the crash.