Victim of fatal ATV crash was the passenger, according to Douglas County Sheriff’s report

A 21-year-old Lawrence man who died in an Oct. 8 accident involving an all-terrain vehicle near Baldwin City was the passenger, and another Lawrence man was the driver, according to an accident report the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office released Thursday.

The report provided a few more details on the crash that killed Preston Scheibler, a 2008 Lawrence High graduate. The day of the accident, sheriff’s officials had only said Scheibler died in the crash, but made no mention if anyone else was involved.

Scheibler’s body was found after 8 a.m. that day in a field underneath the ATV northwest of the intersection of North 500 and East 2300 roads. Sheriff’s investigators estimate the crash occurred six hours earlier, at 2 a.m., but the exact time is unknown, said Sgt. Steve Lewis, a sheriff’s spokesman.

After he was called to the scene, Deputy Alex Kliem found Scheibler, who was buckled into a lap seat belt, underneath the 2004 green Polaris Ranger ATV. The report does not say the driver, Derek Richard Cook, 23, was with the vehicle when Kliem responded.

Cook was not given an impairment test, according to the accident report. But Lewis said the sheriff’s office did take a separate investigative report that is being reviewed by Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson’s office.

“We will review it because a fatality was involved,” said Branson.

A preliminary autopsy report lists mechanical asphyxiation as Scheibler’s cause of death due to the accident. A preliminary urine test also was positive for alcohol and amphetamine, an ingredient in prescription medications including Adderall, which is used to treat ADHD, according to the report by Dr. Altaf Hossain, a deputy Douglas County coroner.

Cook when reached by the Journal-World Thursday declined to answer questions.

“I’m not going to respond to anything right now,” Cook said.