Reality TV star Chris Soules was involved in a fatal car crash this week that allegedly involved alcohol, according to the New York Times. Soules, who appeared in the 19th season of the dating program The Bachelor, was arrested in his home state of Iowa for fleeing the scene of a car crash that caused one fatality.
Court documents obtained by People magazine state that Soules was in possession of alcoholic beverage containers at the time of the crash, though his blood alcohol level is unknown at this time.
On Monday evening near Aurora, Iowa, Soules’ Chevrolet Silverado truck rear-ended Kenneth Mosher as he drove his John Deere tractor home. Both vehicles ended up in separate ditches. The 35-year-old Soules was unharmed and reportedly left the scene of the accident and went home, while the 66-year-old Mosher was declared dead at nearby Mercy Hospital.
Five hours later, Soules was arrested at his home for the felony of leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident, and was taken to the Buchanan County Jail. He was arraigned on Tuesday morning and released after posting $10,000 bail. Soules will have to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and remain in Iowa until his trial.
Soules, a farmer, appeared as a contestant on the 10th season of The Bachelorette (coming in third place) before appearing on the 19th season of The Bachelor. He was dubbed “Prince Farming” on the show. He also competed on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
Soules has had some problems with the law in the past—he was convicted of drunk driving in 2006 and received a $500 fine and a year of probation. Previous to that he had a number of teenage infractions such as underage drinking and two cases of “failure to maintain control of a vehicle,” again resulting in fines. In 2002 he was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident. His last brush with the law came in 2010 over a registration violation.
A family member of the victim, Robert Roepke, whose daughter is married to Mosher’s son, told People Magazine, “I believe it was a very tragic, sad incident that took the life of a guy that was just coming home from work. For Chris, what happened was a freak accident.” Roepke added that, “I don’t know about this (alleged) alcohol issue but I just know that this was a huge mistake. It’s something he’s going to have to deal with for the rest of his life. It just ended very tragically.”
A spokesman for Soules stated that he was “devastated” at Mosher’s death and that “his thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Mosher’s family.”
Soules returns to court for a preliminary hearing on May 2.
