Blood alcohol content of man accused of crashing through optometrist’s office was 0.109, report says

A Lawrence man accused of drunken driving and crashing into an optometrist’s office last week had a blood-alcohol content of 0.109, according to a Lawrence police accident report released Wednesday.

Leith Jon Stevenson, 27, was arrested March 29 on charges of reckless driving and DUI and later bonded out of jail. He’s scheduled to appear in Lawrence Municipal Court April 13.

A black Chevrolet Camaro at 4:50 p.m. crashed into a wall of a frame-fitting room at Lawrence Family Vision Clinic, 3111 W. Sixth St. Police said two people inside were knocked across the room, but no one suffered major injuries.

According to the accident report, Stevenson, who was driving the vehicle, was not injured. He told officers he had just pulled onto the outside east lane on Sixth Street from Gateway Drive when he quickly accelerated the car and said he “didn’t know what happened next, but stated his vehicle left the roadway, drove down a large hill and into the north wall” of the business.

The report says Stevenson tested positive for alcohol in a preliminary breath test and the evidentiary test showed his blood-alcohol content was above 0.08, the legal limit in Kansas. There was no evidence of drug impairment.

Stevenson declined comment Wednesday afternoon and said he had hired an attorney for his municipal court case.

A staffer at the clinic Wednesday said the wall had been repaired and that the fitting room did not close after the accident. A statement on the clinic’s website said about 300 frames and two workstations were destroyed, which could limit what the business could offer for another week.