Trial set for driver in fatal U.S. 40 crash
Topeka ? An April 24 trial date has been set for a man charged with killing a Lawrence paramedic in a head-on highway collision in December.
After a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Shawnee County District Court, Victor Anzua-Torres, 28, was ordered to stand trial on charges that include reckless second-degree murder, misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving without a license and driving on the left side of the highway.
Prosecutors allege that Anzua-Torres was driving a 1999 Cadillac Escalade on Dec. 5 when the vehicle struck a Jeep Cherokee driven by Ryan Ostendorf, 28, Lawrence. Ostendorf, a Kansas University student, was killed in the crash on U.S. Highway 40 near Shawnee Heights Road.
Ostendorf was a paramedic with American Medical Response, a Shawnee County ambulance service. He was driving to work when the collision occurred.
Anzua-Torres also is charged with aggravated battery in connection with injuries suffered by a passenger in the Escalade.