Conrad pleads not guilty to vehicular assault

A Jackson man -- who police say tried to convince them he wasn't the driver in a December auto accident that injured his friends -- on Monday pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular assault at his arraignment.

Timothy Conrad, 22, who waived formal arraignment, was ordered by Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis to appear April 22 with his attorney for a status update of his case.

Conrad is charged with three counts of vehicular assault, Class C felonies that each carry a maximum seven-year prison sentence. The three counts filed by prosecutors account for each of the three people who were injured in the Dec. 8 crash. Police say the wreck happened as the four friends were heading home after a night of drinking. The 2004 BMW they were in ran off a rural county road, overturned and slammed into a tree.

Initial reports listed Conrad as a passenger. Conrad's friend, James Flesher, initially was charged as being the driver in the wreck that seriously hurt two women in the car, Lauren Timpe and Kaylie Van Troba. A subsequent investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol found what has been described as inconsistencies in Conrad's story.

At one point after the accident, court papers say, Conrad left the driver's seat and crawled in the back seat. He also, according to Timpe and Flesher, told a 911 operator that the driver was a female. Conrad's injuries were allegedly not consistent with being a passenger, and Flesher and Timpe were insistent that Conrad was the driver.

Patrick M. McMenamin, who represents Conrad, had no comment Monday concerning Conrad's charges.

Pertinent address:

100 Court St., Jackson, Mo.