Update: Driver In Fatal Crash Identified

by Jill Johnson
January 11, 2013 4:10 PM


The driver who died in Thursday night crash has been indentified. Twenty-six-year-old Chaske Manzelle Warner of Sioux Falls died from the injuries he sustained in the crash, making it the first fatal crash in Sioux Falls this year. 

It was just after 10 p.m., when police say this car, a 2005 Mercury Montego, was traveling down Holly Avenue at speeds far beyond the 25 m.p.h. speed limit that's posted.

Officer Sam Clemens said, "There were some witnesses that estimated that the speed was about 60 miles an hour."

According to police, the vehicle drove through a T-intersection across Oak Street, where it would eventually end up crashing into a nearby tree.

Clemens said, "A lot of people don't think anything of it and speed around town and but if you're not familiar with the area, if it's dark, if you run into a T-intersection and are driving too fast, you're not going to have enough time to react to be able to prevent a crash."

Five people were in the vehicle at the time of the crash including a 26-year-old male, a 21-year-old female, and a 20-year-old male, all from Sioux Falls, as well as a 25-year-old Male from Pierre. But when police arrived, one person was missing. The 23-year-old male, who was in the back seat of the car, fled the scene. On parole, he was arrested a block-and-a-half west of the accident, on S. Lincoln Avenue.

Clemens said, "The officers had some help from people who were in the area too that must have saw him running and then directed where he was last seen so they were able to track him down pretty quick."

He was treated at the hospital, then taken to the South Dakota State Penetentiary. As for 26-year-old Chaske Manzelle Warner, the driver, he died at the hospital.

Clemens said, "On the surface it appears that obviously, alcohol, the speed, and seatbelts are big contributing factors into this crash and the big thing, I think, is probably alcohol. If people hadn't been drinking and got behind the wheel then this crash wouldn't had happened."

According to police, two other passengers sustained life-threatening injuries. One person has improved, but is still in serious condition. There is no change for the other. The investigation is still on going.