Attorney General Chris Koster has assigned Assistant Attorney General Julie Tolle as the special prosecutor in the criminal case against Moniteau County Prosecutor Shayne Healea, who was arrested Oct. 25 on suspicion of felonies after an incident that left four people injured at a Columbia restaurant.
Healea, 36, was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident and four counts of second-degree assault for backing his 2013 Ford F-150 with the tailgate down into a glass-block portion of Addison's, 709 Cherry St., at 7:36 p.m. Oct. 25.
In a news release from the Columbia Police Department officials stated Healea left the scene and parked his truck in front of the Tiger Hotel on Eighth Street.
Officials also said Healea refused a breath-alcohol test, and officers secured a warrant to take his blood for a toxicology screen. The test results can take up to six weeks. Missouri's statute on second-degree assault includes a subsection for injuries that victims suffer as a result of drunken driving.
Healea was released from the Boone County Jail after posting bond totaling $22,500.
On Monday, Nov. 3, Shane Farrow, an attorney in Jefferson City, filed a petition seeking a review of a notice the Missouri Department of Revenue sent Healea that his driver's license would be revoked 15 days after the accident - standard procedure when a breath test is refused. Farrow asked Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Larry Bryson for a stay delaying Healea's driver's license revocation.
Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight requested a special prosecutor in Healea's criminal case last week, and Circuit Judge Gary Oxenhandler appointed Koster's office.
Knight and Healea serve on the board of directors of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys as president and president-elect, respectively. They also work together on the Prosecutors Coordinators Training Council, and Healea was a law clerk in Knight's office for two months in 2009.
Healea released a statement, on Oct. 26, saying he didn't notice his tailgate had hit the glass-block window of Addison's and that he stopped his truck and returned to the scene once a witness told him what happened.