Sheriff investigating whether alcohol factor in crash

Carroll teen stopped breathing

By JARED STRONG
j.strong@carrollspaper.com

SCRANTON — A Carroll High School junior was unconscious and stopped breathing after an early Saturday crash at Highways 25 and 30 in Greene County, but she’s recovering and was set for surgery Wednesday to repair her pelvis, her father said in a phone interview.

Macaela Bretey, 17, was the youngest of five people in a car that did not yield at a stop sign about 12:50 a.m. and was struck in its side on U.S. Highway 30 by a van that was traveling about 55 mph, Greene County Sheriff Steve Haupert said.

The car’s driver, Alex Bruch, 20, of Arcadia, was northbound on Iowa Highway 25 when he allegedly drove through the stop at the intersection with Highway 30, and the eastbound van, driven by Gregory Chapman, 48, of Ames, struck the car in its driver’s side rear door.

Bretey sat in the middle of the back seat at the time of the crash, her father, Travis Bretey, said from her hospital room in Des Moines.

“She was unresponsive for maybe an hour, till they got her to Blank Children’s Hospital,” Bretey said of his daughter. “She wasn’t breathing on her own until late afternoon on Saturday. ... (Now) she’s talking a lot. The big concern at this point is that she had a little bit of bleeding in the brain, but that stopped very quickly.”

Macaela Bretey was among three in the car who were flown by medical helicopter to Des Moines hospitals, including Bretey’s boyfriend Cameron Hackett, 20, of Carroll, and Bruch.

Bretey suffered a broken pelvis and cheek bone and numerous cuts from broken window glass.

Bruch and Hackett suffered unspecified injuries, but Travis Bretey said they recovered more quickly than his daughter.

Two other passengers in the car, Trevin Jorgensen and Journey Dirks, both 20, of Carroll, were treated at the Greene County Medical Center.

Chapman was not injured.

Dirks is a Carroll High grad, and Bruch, Hackett and Jorgensen attended Kuemper Catholic High School.

Haupert said his deputies found unopened beer cans at the crash site.

The drivers’ blood is being tested to determine their blood-alcohol concentrations at the time of the crash. Criminal charges are possible, Haupert said, but he declined to speculate what they might be.

Results from the blood tests aren’t expected for weeks.

A recent, alcohol-fueled crash in Sac County that killed two girls resulted in felony criminal charges for a teen driver and the man who allegedly provided the alcohol. The teen driver faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted in adult district court.

After surgery this week, Bretey will start therapies to help her move, talk and do basic, everyday tasks. Her father said there’s no indication yet that her speech is impaired, but the full extent of her injuries will become more clear in the coming weeks.

“We are very thankful to the LifeFlight team, Greene County, all the ambulance people that helped at the crash scene,” Travis Bretey said. “We appreciate everybody’s prayers and support.”

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