JACKSON, Mo. -- A Thebes, Ill., man faces charges he took the wheel from the passenger seat and tried to cause a crash and kill himself and the driver of the vehicle, police said.
The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Larry A. Henderson, 34, with first-degree domestic assault Thursday.
Jackson police responded to an SUV lying on the driver's side in a culvert near Old Cape Road and East Jackson Boulevard around 9 p.m. May 28, according to a probable-cause statement filed in the case by Jackson patrolman Austin Reed.
Henderson, the passenger, told police he and the victim had attended a concert at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau but could not provide details regarding the crash, and officers "could immediately detect a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage on his breath as he spoke," Reed wrote.
The victim told police she'd driven Henderson back to his car at Wal-Mart in Jackson but decided to drive Henderson to a relative's house when he refused to exit her vehicle, according to the statement.
She told police she was driving east on East Jackson Boulevard when Henderson said, "I'm just going to kill us both and get this over with" before grabbing the steering wheel and jerking it to the right, rolling the vehicle off the roadway and down into the culvert, Reed wrote.
The car came to rest about 25 feet from the road and about 10 feet below street level, according to the statement.
The victim said she was on the phone with a relative when Henderson crashed the car, Reed wrote.
The victim's relative later arrived at the crash scene and told police she heard Henderson say he would "kill them both" and heard the victim beg Henderson to stop and, after the crash, say she was "upside-down in a ditch," according to the statement.
Henderson was hospitalized after the crash, Reed wrote.
Henderson's bond was set at $15,000 with the condition he not have any contact with the victim.