Tolle appointed special prosecutor for Healea case

Attorney General Chris Koster has assigned Assistant Attorney General Julie Tolle as the special prosecutor in the criminal case against Moniteau County Prosecutor Shayne Healea, according to Koster spokeswoman Nanci Gonder.

Healea, 36, was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident and four counts of second-degree assault for backing his 2013 Ford F-150 with the tailgate down into a glass-block portion of Addison's, a Columbia restaurant, at 7:36 p.m. Oct. 25.

A Columbia Police Department news release said Healea left the scene and parked his truck in front of the Tiger Hotel on Eighth Street.

Officials also indicated Healea refused a breath-alcohol test, and officers secured a warrant to take his blood for a toxicology screen, which can take up to six weeks to get results. Missouri's statute on second-degree assault includes a subsection for injuries that victims suffer as a result of drunken driving.

Healea was released from the Boone County Jail after posting bond totaling $22,500.

On Nov. 3, Jefferson City attorney Shane Farrow filed a petition seeking a review of a notice the Missouri Department of Revenue sent Healea that his driver's license would be revoked 15 days after the accident - standard procedure when a breath test is refused. Farrow asked Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Larry Bryson for a stay delaying Healea's driver's license revocation.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight requested a special prosecutor in Healea's criminal case last week.

Knight and Healea serve on the board of directors of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys as president and president-elect, respectively. They also work together on the Prosecutors Coordinators Training Council, and Healea was a law clerk in Knight's office for two months in 2009.

Healea released a statement the day after the incident saying he didn't notice his tailgate had hit the glass-block window of Addison's, that he stopped his truck and returned to the scene once a witness told him what happened.

Healea was re-elected Tuesday as the prosecutor for Moniteau County with 90.86 percent of the vote, receiving 2,396 votes.