More charges filed against Cedar Rapids man accused in fatal crash

CEDAR RAPIDS — Additional charges were filed Wednesday against a Cedar Rapids man accused of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that killed one woman and seriously injured another.

Zawadi Christophe, 18, was charged last week with one count of homicide by vehicle (OWI), one count of serious injury by vehicle (OWI), and one count of driving under suspension. On Wednesday, charges were added of homicide by vehicle-reckless driving, serious injury by vehicle-reckless driving, and possession of marijuana.

On Oct. 24, a Dodge Journey driven by Christophe rear-ended a BMW sport utility vehicle driven by Joanne Swenka, 73, of Marion, around 9 p.m. in the 800 block of First Avenue West. The crash pushed the BMW into oncoming traffic, where it was hit by a truck.

A passenger in the Swenka vehicle, Judy Hoover, 77, of Cedar Rapids, died in the crash.

Swenka suffered serious injuries in the crash, including a brain bleed, skull fractures, facial fractures, broken ribs, a collapsed lung, spinal cord and pelvis fractures and blood in her abdomen, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint states Christophe was seen driving erratically on First Avenue before the crash, weaving in and out of traffic, including through a construction zone, and nearly causing other crashes.

The air bag module in his vehicle showed that five seconds before the fatal crash, Christophe was driving 65 mph and that 1.8 seconds before the impact he had accelerated to 73 mph, according to the complaint.

Christope’s driver’s license had been revoked after Marion police arrested him Oct. 4 on a charge of operating while intoxicated. His blood-alcohol level tested at 0.105 percent, according to the criminal complaint. Iowa law presumes intoxication at 0.08 percent.

Crash victims had been at bingo night

Swenka and Hoover were on their way home from playing bingo at St. Patrick’s Church when the crash happened, according to Joanne Swenka’s husband, David Swenka. The church is on First Avenue and Fifth Street NW, about three blocks from the crash site.

“She used to play bingo a lot more, but with COVID that really slows things down,” he said, adding his wife liked staying home with her cat, Pepper, and “a little wine.”

Joanne Swenka is being treated at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. While her recovery is headed in the right direction, she has a long road ahead of her, said Scott Swenka, Joanne and David Swenka’s son.

His mother, he said, went through nearly nine hours of surgery on her spine and was kept in a medically induced coma for five days, until Friday. On Saturday, she was taken off a ventilator and was able to eat some ice cream.

“She’s breathing on her own. She’s starting to eat a little bit,” David Swenka said. “Talking to her is kind of so-so. She responds, but it takes a minute. … Of course, she’s speaking real soft and in short little sentences.”

Claudette Becker, a close friend of Hoover’s and executor of her estate, said Hoover loved crafts, especially crocheting, and had a craft shop behind Becker’s hairdressing business.

“She was always into making hats and mittens at wintertime for churches and other groups. She made lap quilts for nursing homes and was always in the big crafts shows at Thanksgiving time,” Becker said. “She was forever crocheting up something new and trying to help people out. And she loved her bingo.”

Hoover didn’t drive, so Becker would take her to the craft shop and Swenka would drive her to bingo.

Support coming from friends, community

Both families are receiving a lot of support, David Swenka said, noting he and his wife have lived in the Cedar Rapids area most of their lives.

“We’ve got some real good neighbors. We’ve belonged to the Cedar Valley Street Rods for a long time, since it started, and so we’ve got friends there. Everybody’s been real, real outgoing, wishing us good things, and keeping us in their prayers and that type of thing. There’s a lot of people out there wishing her well.”

Scott Swenka has created a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses for his mom, which are estimated at around $500,000, and with funeral expenses for Hoover’s family. The GoFundMe donations will be split evenly between the two families, he said. As of Thursday morning, the GoFundMe effort had raised $480.

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