COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A central Missouri prosecutor facing five felony charges after crashing his car into a popular downtown Columbia restaurant is seeking a change of venue to move the case out of Boone County.
Moniteau County Prosecuting Attorney Shayne Healea wants an out-of-town jury due to media coverage of the late October wreck at Addison's restaurant that he thinks will prejudice prospective jurors.
A grand jury indicted him in November for leaving after backing his pickup truck into a glass wall in the rear of the restaurant. Flying debris from the crash injured four people.
The indictment alleges that Healea was under the influence of alcohol and refused a breath-alcohol test, but he wasn't charged with alcohol-related offenses. A Boone County judge denied his bid to prevent his driver's license from being revoked - standard procedure at the Missouri Department of Revenue when a breath-alcohol test is refused.
Healea has said in he wasn't initially aware of the crash but immediately returned to the restaurant after driving around the block and identified himself as the driver when alerted.
A special prosecutor from the Missouri Attorney General's Office is handling the case at the request of Boone County prosecutor Dan Knight, who recused himself.