Driver in Hwy. 30 rollover wreck died Tuesday morning, Cedar Rapids police say

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 29-year-old La Porte City man, who was seriously injured Monday in a rollover wreck on U.S. Highway 30 near Interstate 380, has died.

Charles Ryan Yochem was transported by Lifeguard Air Ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City with life-threatening injuries Monday afternoon, according to the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Police said the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office notified the department Tuesday that Yochem died as the result of his injuries at 5:50 a.m.

Yochem was one of three people injured in the single-vehicle crash Monday afternoon in which the Chevrolet Trailblazer they were traveling in rolled several times on the Interstate 380 southbound off-ramp to Highway 30.

Police said Yochem was driving the Chevrolet Trailblazer on the off-ramp lane for Highway 30 and trying to merge back onto Interstate 380 when he “made an evasive correction to avoid another vehicle” and lost control of the vehicle. It rolled several times.

Police said Yochem and the front-seat passenger, Deanna Marie Fugate, 49, of La Porte City, were ejected from the vehicle.

A third passenger was found seat belted in the SUV’s rear passenger compartment.

Fugate was transported by Area Ambulance Service to the UIHC for serious injuries.

The rear passenger, Jasmine Keister, 18, of La Porte City, was transported to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital. She was treated for minor injuries and has since been released, police said.

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