In person and talking about agriculture, former “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules is an easy person to like. He’s enthusiastic and passionate about the farming industry, and people are drawn to him. He has often said, point blank, that he wants to use his celebrity stardom to be an agvocate.
Right now, however, his celebrity status is resting under a much more grim banner, with the attention drawn to Soules and a fatal crash in Buchanan County, Iowa, on Monday evening. The Iowa State Patrol said that Soules, who lives in nearby Arlington, was driving a 2008 Chevy pickup that collided with a tractor. Both vehicles went into separate ditches. The man driving the tractor died, and Soules has been arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident.
He was wearing a Soules Family Farms shirt upon his arrest.
"The Bachelor" star Chris Soules arrested after being accused of fleeing fatal crash https://t.co/ko4I9DKBGV pic.twitter.com/d6R8k4Tyi1
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 26, 2017
Soules made this more than 5-minute-long 911 call after the collision, and it appears he tried checking the tractor driver’s pulse after the collision, which happened around 8:30 p.m. Soules was arrested later at his home, and authorities said that alcoholic beverages and containers have been found. The New York Times identified the tractor’s driver as 66-year-old Kenneth Eugene Mosher.
Chris Soules making his initial court appearance in Buchanan County @KWWL pic.twitter.com/72bvEg0wVR
— Elizabeth Amanieh (@EAmaniehKWWL) April 25, 2017
Soules was released from jail Tuesday morning on $10,000 bond. The crime he’s been charged with is a felony, and there is no word on whether there will be other charges.
Robert Roepke, whose daughter is married to the Mosher’s son, told People Magazine, that he believed the incident to be a “very tragic, sad accident.” Roepke came to Soules’ defense.
“Chris comes from a good family and is still well-vested in farming. He’s got a great life ahead of him,” Roepke told People Magazine. “This is a serious bump in the road, and I don’t know about his [alleged] alcohol issue, but I just know that this was a huge mistake. It’s something he’s going to have to deal with for the rest of his life. It just ended very tragically.”
After appearing on Season 19 of “The Bachelor,” Soules’ life changed dramatically while he maintained his connection to his hometown farming community. Soules was featured in this episode of CarbonTV’s American Elements, which on Wednesday night won first place in the Audio/Video Broadcast News category at the National Agri Marketing Association annual awards:
At the NAMA event in Dallas, after the award was announced, a moment of silence was held for the man who died in Monday’s crash.
Soules has also appeared at events on behalf of this website, including this past year’s National FFA Convention:
Soules has had some run-ins with the law over the years. To read about them, click on our link here.
