Man killed in crash with suspected drunken driver north of Springville

A man was killed Tuesday in a crash after a suspected drunken driver lost control of his vehicle and collided with another vehicle on Springville Road north of Springville.

According to a news release from the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, emergency responders were called at 2:35 p.m. Tuesday to a fatality crash near Springville Road and Schmidt Lane.

Zachary Twachtmann, 31, of Anamosa, has been charged with homicide by vehicle and operating under the influence. According to a criminal complaint, he smelled strongly of alcohol and failed field sobriety tests administered by law enforcement. A warrant was issued to take his blood, but the complaint doesn’t say what his blood alcohol content was.

According to the release, Twachtmann was driving south on Springville Road when he failed to maintain control of his vehicle, swerving and striking a vehicle driven by Dylan Vascik, 46, of Springville.

Vascik was pronounced dead at the scene.

Twachtmann was transported to the Linn County Correctional Center with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release. His passenger, Mackenna Scofield, 25, of Anamosa was transported by Anamosa Ambulance to Mercy Medical Center with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.

The scene of a fatal crash at Schmidt Lane & Springville Road, north of Springville, on Tues., Feb. 7, 2023. (Linn County Sheriff’s Office photo)

Vascik’s wife, Bridgette Vascik, said he was speaking on the phone with a friend, over Bluetooth, when the crash happened. The friend called her, and she immediately went to the scene with her father. She was there with her husband when he died.

“He was an amazing father and brother and husband and cousin and best friend of many people,” Bridgette Vascik said of her husband. He was “honest, loving, dependable ... positive, supporting.”

The Vasciks were married for 17 years. They met two years before they got married, on a blind data arranged by Dylan Vascik’s father. They’ve lived in Springville for about six or seven years.

Dylan Vascik worked in tub and fiberglass repair, and spent a lot of his free time riding motorcycles. Bridgette Vascik said some of her best memories with her husband are riding motorcycles together, along with the couple’s two daughters. He was also a part of a Soldiers for Christ Motorcycle Ministry group.

He was not riding a motorcycle when he was hit Tuesday.

Besides his wife and daughters, Dylan Vascik is survived by his parents, a brother and several other extended family members, as well as many friends who are close enough to be considered family. Bridgette Vascik said she had a household full of family who had come together to mourn Wednesday.