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Ionia father charged with three felonies in Dec. 20 crash

By Chris Baldus, cbaldus@charlescitypress.com

An Ionia man is facing felony charges in a head-on collision just east of Charles City in December that seriously injured him, his daughters and the driver of the other vehicle.

Anthony Gerard Schmitz, 44, is charged in Floyd County District Court with two counts of child endangerment resulting in serious injury, class C felonies, and serious injury by vehicle, a class D felony. The Floyd County Attorney’s Office also charged him with operating while intoxicated-first offense, a serious misdemeanor. 

Schmitz is accused of driving under the influence of a drug with his two daughters, ages 10 and 11, as passengers when he crossed the center line hitting the vehicle driven by a Bassett resident.

A criminal complaint filed by the Iowa State Patrol states a blood sample showed Schmitz was under the influence of amphetamine or methamphetamine.

The public response on the night of the accident has drawn praise.

“The real heroes were the unsung heroes behind the scene,” Charles City Police Chief Hugh Anderson posted on the department’s Facebook page. “Like the woman who took the battered young girl into her vehicle and cared for her until medical aid got there. And the woman who stood in the cold beside a smashed vehicle comforting the driver until they could be extracted … Thank you to all of you. It’s great to live in a community where we pull together when someone else is in need.”

According to the criminal complaints and State Patrol crash report:

Schmitz was driving a Buick Terraza van on Hwy. 18 heading into Charles City around 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20. The van crossed the centerline near the intersection with Commercial Drive and struck head-on a GMC Denali driven by Heather Meyer, 52, of Bassett.

A helicopter took Meyer, Schmitz and his 11-year-old daughter to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. An ambulance took Schmitz’s 10-year-old daughter to the Floyd County Medical Center.

According to the State Patrol, “Witnesses stated that Mr. Schmitz was asking for help from being trapped in the vehicle so that he could get out of there before police arrived,” and Schmitz said he “swerved to miss a rabbit.”

Schmitz was served with an arrest warrant on Jan. 30. His bond was set at $26,000 cash or surety.

He is represented by Public Defender Nellie O’Mara.

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