South Bend man charged in fatal accident

Tribune Staff Report

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Carol Ragsdale was a passenger in this Corvair that was struck nearly head-on at the intersection of Lincolnway and Oakside in Mishawaka. (WSBT Photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Aug 19, 2008 at 11:59 AM EST

Story Updated: Aug 19, 2008 at 12:02 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — A 34-year-old man faces two counts of driving while intoxicated for allegedly causing the car accident Saturday that killed a 60-year-old woman and injured her husband.

Prosecutors Tuesday charged Derek A. Dygulski with:

One count of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated resulting in death of another person, a Class C felony punishable by up to eight years in prison;

One count of causing serious bodily injury while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class D felony punishable by up to three years in prison.

Dygulski was treated for minor injuries and was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail before he posted $2,000 cash bail Monday night.

The accident took place shortly after 7 a.m. The impact killed 60-year-old Carol Ragsdale, a passenger in a blue 1960 Corvair driven by her husband, 60-year-old Kenneth Ragsdale. The Ragsdales, of the 1300 block of Providence Court in the Reverewood subdivision, reportedly had been on their way to an antique car show in Dowagiac.

Prosecutors allege that Dygulski was traveling west on the eastbound side of Lincoln Way East in Mishawaka when he drove into oncoming traffic. His vehicle crashed head-on into the Ragsdale’s.

Kenneth Ragsdale suffered "numerous injuries," according to prosecutors, including a broken leg and pelvis.

Neither of the Ragsdales reportedly had been wearing seat belts because the Corvair did not have them. Dygulski was wearing a seat belt and his airbag deployed.

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