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Bettendorf board closer to decision regarding Marty Lucas

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By Sheena Dooley | Friday, May 16, 2008 5:45 PM CDT | () comments

School board members in Bettendorf are closer to deciding what, if any, action they will take against their superintendent, who was arrested earlier this year on drunken driving charges.

The board will finally receive the additional information it requested more than two months ago regarding Superintendent Marty Lucas’ arrest when board members meet in a closed session at 5 p.m. Monday at the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, 729 21st St.

Cameron Davidson, Bettendorf School District attorney, said he doesn’t expect board members to make a decision regarding Lucas at the meeting.

“The district’s expectation is the investigation will be complete and a decision regarding Mr. Lucas will be made in the very near future,” Davidson said.

Lucas has pleaded not guilty to the OWI charges that stem from a February incident in which the 2008 Chevrolet Blazer he was driving and the U-Haul it was pulling ended up in a ditch off of an icy Interstate 380 in Benton County. A jury trial is scheduled for June 9, with a pretrial conference set for May 29.

Davidson said the board expects to make its decision prior to pretrial conference.

Board members last met regarding the situation in March during a meeting that Lucas asked to be held behind closed doors. They emerged after almost two hours saying they needed additional information but hoped to make a decision within two weeks.

“Some of the information we requested was not within the board’s control,” Davidson said. “We had to wait for others to provide it to us.”

Davidson said that information included court documents, which offer an explanation of the incident and charges against Lucas. He would not comment on what other information the board will receive Monday, because of the ongoing investigation.

According to the police report, the accident happened about 5 p.m. Feb. 28 when Lucas was southbound on the interstate. He was taken to a convenience store in Urbana, Iowa, by fire personnel. A friend took Lucas back to the accident scene.

While a deputy talked with Lucas, he noticed an odor of alcohol, the report said. Lucas admitted to drinking one beer with his lunch about 2 p.m. and nothing after the accident. An hour after the crash, he failed a preliminary drunken-driving test. A breath test registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.118. The legal limit is 0.08.

It is the second time Lucas faces such charges. He was arrested in July 1999 on OWI charges when he was superintendent in Charles City, Iowa. He received a deferred judgment and a year’s probation.

Sheena Dooley can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or sdooley@qctimes.com.