Bachelor star Chris Soules charged with felony following deadly crash

Former Bachelor contestant Chris Soules has been charged with leaving the scene of a deadly crash, a felony, following an accident Monday night near Aurora, Iowa.

Police say Soules, 35, was driving his 2008 Chevrolet truck down a country road when he rear-ended a farmer driving a tractor; the pickup rolled into a ditch and the tractor went into another ditch. Soules, who was not injured in the crash, walked away from the scene, and was picked up by an unknown person, Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Scott Bright told The Des Moines Register. Several hours later, he was arrested at his home in Arlington, and on Tuesday was charged with a felony; if convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Authorities say they are investigating if Soules was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, and during his court appearance, Buchanan County Assistant Attorney Jenalee Zaputil said he refused to come out of his home to be arrested until a search warrant was obtained. The driver of the tractor has been identified by police as Kenneth E. Mosher, 66, a farmer living in Aurora. Friends say he was married with two children, a veteran, and a member of the American Legion. Soules first appeared on The Bachelorette in 2014, and was chosen to star in the 19th season of The Bachelor the next year. He later was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and Worst Cooks in America. In 2005, he was convicted of drunken driving.

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