Court records show Longview-based chiropractor Daren Dean Bowlby, 59, is scheduled to plead guilty and be sentenced next month after police say he caused a 2024 fatal vehicle accident on Interstate 5, just south of the Lexington Bridge.
The tentative hearing date of Dec. 3 was set Monday in Cowlitz County Superior Court.
Bowlby, of Castle Rock, is charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence of liquor or drugs after investigators say he was driving intoxicated the wrong way on the highway before he struck a semi-truck driver head-on.
Bowlby owns First Choice Medical Center at 1157 Third Ave.
He was headed north on I-5 south around 11:30 p.m., just north of exit 42, when he hit Brian C. Campbell, 57, of Salem, who was in the same lane headed south, according to Washington State Patrol.
First responders spent about two hours removing Campbell, a father of three, from the truck.
He suffered multiple fractures to his legs and arms, and once freed of the wreck, he went into cardiac arrest. According to Washington State Patrol, he was transported to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center but was later sent to Vancouver.
He died two days later.
Arresting documents say a trooper and a witness at the scene reported smelling alcohol on Bowlby. A trooper also noticed he had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
Bowlby failed the horizontal gaze sobriety test, but declined to do the walk-and-turn and the one-leg-stand tests, the report states. A breathalyzer couldn't be performed because the trooper's device wasn't working, the report continues.
Authorities say Bowlby was leaving Longview Country Club, located at 41 Country Club Dr., the night of the accident.
Campbell's family is suing Bowlby, his wife and the Longview Country Club for wrongful death. The next Cowlitz County Superior Court hearing in that case is scheduled for Wednesday.
The suit argues that not only did the Longview Country Club serve Bowlby “when he was apparently under the influence of alcohol,” but that the club didn’t take reasonable measures to prevent him from driving away or even offer to give him a ride or arrange a car ride for him.
After the crash, the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board also investigated the club over “sales to an intoxicated person," but a Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesperson said sufficient evidence wasn't found by the department or Washington State Patrol.
The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesperson said Tuesday if Bowlby is convicted of his criminal charge, the liquor license at his JP’s Taphouse & Grill in Camas would be revoked.
