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Driver may be charged in Vogel death

A charge of vehicular homicide/involuntary manslaughter may be filed in the April 21 death of Georgie Vogel, 58, of Marion.

Marion police completed "thousands of hours" of investigation of the case last week, Police Chief Michel Soyez said Tuesday.

Soyez is recommending that charges be filed against David H. Herb, 41, of Council Grove. Herb was the driver of a 2001 Chevrolet three-quarter ton pickup that went out of control April 21 and slammed through the north wall of a building at the Martin Marietta Quarries north of Marion, killing Vogel.

Vogel was weigh master at the quarry. She was seated at her desk in the scale office when the truck crashed through.

Herb was a Martin Marietta employee and was driving a company truck.

All evidence and conclusions gathered in the case by Marion police were given to Marion County Attorney Susan Robson early last week. She sent the materials to the Kansas Attorney General's Office in Topeka for their overview.

Based on the AG office's recommendations, charges may or may not be filed.

Soyez said his officers found some evidence of negligence on Herb's part. Doctors have diagnosed Herb as having a seizure disorder.

According to the police report, Herb was continuing to drive even though several episodes of seizure activity had been witnessed in the man within a six-month period just prior to the fatal accident.

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