Charges will be filed soon against Aaron Smith, who crashed his car into an incoming car driven by Katie Lentz, in the now famed “angel” priest crash case.
After the crash, Lentz was trapped and rescue crews were trying to get her out, when a critical moment came--her health was failing rapidly, said medical workers.
So New London Fire Chief Raymond Reed decided to move the car, which was on its side, back on all four wheels.
15 minutes later, Lentz asked rescue workers to pray out loud for her,according to KHQA. That’s when an “angel” priest seemingly approached out of nowhere.
“He came up and approached the patient, and offered a prayer,” Reed said. “A sense of calmness came over her, and it did us as well. I can’t be for certain how it was said, but myself and another firefighter, we very plainly heard that we should remain calm, that our tools would now work and that we would get her out of that vehicle.”
Another fire department showed up right after that with more equipment and manpower and Lentz was freed, and put into a helicopter to be taken to a hospital.
That’s when the rescue workers looked for the priest, to thank him. But he was gone. And the highway had been blocked for a quarter-mile each way during the 1.5 hour rescue.
“Where did this guy come from?” Lentz’s friend Travis Wiseman asked. “We’re looking for the priest and so far, no one has seen him. Whether it was a priest as an angel or an actual angel, he was an angel to all those and to Katie.”
Although the identity of the priest remains a mystery, the prosecution is planning on moving the case forward by filing charges soon.
“We’re awaiting the full report from the Missouri Highway Patrol,” Ralls County Prosecuting Attorney Rodney Rodenbaugh told KHQA. “I hate to venture a guess what charges he’s going to face until I get the reports.”
The preliminary reports should come in within the next seven days.
The Highway Patrol did a full accident reconstruction, which added time to the investigation.
The patrol’s records indicate Smith, 26, will be charged with felony second-degree assault and failing to drive on the correct side of the roadway.
Lentz is recovering in the hospital.
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