Ex-cop will avoid prison after DWI crash that killed his wife, Missouri officials say
A former sheriff’s deputy accused of causing a crash that killed his wife in 2023 will avoid time in prison, Missouri officials said.
Colby McCreary was driving near Festus on April 30, 2023, when he crashed into a small rock bluff, throwing him and his 28-year-old wife, Savannah McCreary, from the car, the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office said in a Jan. 5 news release.
Prosecutors said both husband and wife were not wearing seatbelts and Savannah was reportedly not fully sitting in her seat in the seconds before the crash.
A crash reconstruction report also found that, for an unknown reason, the steering wheel abruptly turned, and while the car began to slow, “it was not possible for the driver to regain control of the vehicle before it impacted the bluff.”
McCreary’s toxicology test performed after the crash showed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.17%, investigators told KSDK. That’s over double the legal limit of 0.08% BAC in Missouri.
He was initially charged with one felony count of driving while intoxicated resulting in the death of another as well as involuntary manslaughter, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. McCreary was a deputy with the department at the time of his accident but was no longer employed as of June 6, 2023, the department said.
McCreary’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Feb. 7.
McCreary’s charges were downgraded on Jan. 5, 2024 because prosecutors said they could not prove a felony offense “beyond a reasonable doubt,” they said in a news release.
Some of Savannah McCreary’s family members disagreed with the new charge, KMOV reported.
“I was devastated. If it was anybody else, we’d be held accountable,” her mother Krista Kalpakoff told KMOV.
McCreary pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge on Feb. 6 and was sentenced to 2 years of probation and community service, according to court records.
“My position was we weren’t asking for the judge to treat him better because he was a police officer, but we didn’t want him to treat him worse because he was a police officer,” his attorney Travis Noble told KSDK after the sentencing hearing.
Festus is about a 35-mile drive southwest from St. Louis.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Ex-cop will avoid prison after DWI crash that killed his wife, Missouri officials say."
