Bail reduced in Mound House DUI

DAYTON - Bail was reduced Wednesday for a Dayton woman accused of driving drunk and critically injuring a Silver Springs family in Mound House last month.

Heidi Shellenbarger, 21, appeared before Justice of the Peace Camille Vecchiarelli in Dayton Justice Court on Wednesday morning.

She is being held in the Lyon County Jail on $25,000 bail, a $40,000 reduction from the bail placed on her when she was arrested after the July 21 early morning accident that injured Shirley Collins, 63, William "Wes" Collins, 72, and the Collinses' 23-year-old grandson Tim Collins.

According to court documents, Shellenbarger was eastbound on Highway 50 East near the top of Dayton Hill about 5:30 a.m. when she crossed the center line, striking Wes Collins's westbound Dodge van.

The Collins family and Shellenbarger were each taken from the scene by Care Flight helicopter to the Reno trauma center.

Upon Shellenbarger's release from the hospital July 23, she was arrested on suspicion of DUI causing substantial bodily harm, reckless driving, possession of cocaine, failure to maintain a single lane, driving on a suspended license and failure to appear.

While Tim Collins was treated and released from the hospital, he continues physical therapy for his injuries, according to Shirley Collins.

Shirley Collins and her husband Wes, who works as a slot attendant at Smith's in Dayton, remain in a care facility in Reno. Shirley's recovery will take months, she said.

A criminal complaint filed in Dayton Justice Court on July 27 charges Shellenbarger with felony possession of cocaine and two counts of DUI causing substantial bodily harm. Two alternate counts of reckless driving causing substantial bodily harm also are charged.

Lyon County Deputy District Attorney Lynn Rivera said during Wednesday's hearing she was "adamantly" opposed to a reduction of bail.

"She was driving at least 65, possibly as high as 85 mph on Highway 50 on the wrong side of the road, at 5:30 in the morning. The state thinks she's an incredible threat to the community," said Rivera. "Let me read to you from her Myspace page: 'Dear liver, thanks. You were a champ throughout the Memorial Day festivities.' What you don't see off her Myspace page is any talk about her child. All you see is talk about partying."

Shellenbarger's mother Sherri Marsh tearfully described her daughter as a "great mom" to her 4-year-old son who has cerebral palsy.

Ron Wingard told the judge that his granddaughter is an "exceptional" person.

"She's so intelligent. She's always worked very hard in school. We were so proud of her when she graduated with her AA," Wingard said. "She had so many aspirations to go on all the way to a Ph.D., which I think she's certainly capable of doing. We used to be worried because she never went out at night. And just recently she started to go out once in a while. She's never been a party girl."

Public Defender Ken Ward said that despite Rivera's statements, Shellenbarger is a good person.

"This was an incident that I'm sure is a one-time incident. I guess you can make the point to anyone who has one incident, 'Oh my god, we're all in danger.' However I think that belies the fact that she has no priors, she's been a single mom. She's been doing whatever she can to better herself," he said. "To say that she's a threat to the community is an absurdity."

Ward said based on Shellenbarger's record, she would likely not violate bail.

Rivera disagreed.

"She's facing a mandatory prison at a minimum - probably much more time than that - and she almost killed two people ... She had cocaine in her purse. She may not have been under the influence of it, but she's carrying around cocaine driving on Highway 50 at least 25 mph over the speed limit on the wrong side of the road. How is that not a threat to the community?" said Rivera. "Additionally, she shut down the road during commute. How many people missed work because of (this)? Hundreds.

"The state is adamantly opposed to a reduction."

But Judge Vecchiarelli noted that bail "is not a punishment," and after reviewing factors such as Shellenbar-ger's criminal history, family support and ties to the community, she determined a reduction was appropriate.

"I'm going to reduce bail to $25,000. But I'm setting conditions on the reduction of bail," said Vecchiarelli. "If you post bail, you will be on a drug and alcohol monitoring bracelet ... installed immediately upon your release. Absolutely no use or possession of any alcohol. Absolutely no use or possession of a controlled substance. There is to be absolutely no driving."

A preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday was continued until blood alcohol results come back from the lab. A new date will be set during a status check in late September.