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Kellar
Kellar -
Ingham
Ingham
A Hardin County man arrested and charged an entire week after the fatal rear-end crash that claimed the life of a local woman May 24 has been released on bond.
According to the Hardin County Jail, Chase Alan Kellar, 36, of Kountze, was released on a $250,000 bond in the wake of a May 31 arrest wherein he was charged with intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle, a second-degree felony.
According to Lumberton Police Chief Danny Sullins, Shelia Fay Ingham, 69, of Silsbee, died in the crash at about 10 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 69 and West Chance Cutoff Road. As sworn in the probable cause affidavit for Kellar’s arrest, the crash investigation indicated Kellar struck Ingham’s vehicle while she was stopped at a red light. The victim spun out of control and came to a stop in the northeast side of the road, while Kellar’s Dodge stopped in a vacant lot on the northwest side of the highway.
Ingham was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital with major injuries and was pronounced deceased at the hospital. Kellar was transported to the hospital, treated for minor injuries and released.
Dash cam video from a witness of the crash entered into evidence reportedly showed Kellar weaving “back and forth” across the roadway and only applied the brakes one second before impact with Ingham’s rear-end.
Officers reported a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” emitting from Kellar at the scene, along with an empty container found in his auto. Kellar reportedly told investigators he had been to a bar in Beaumont prior to the wreck.
May 29, the Texas Department of Public Safety obtained a search warrant for Kellar’s Dodge and recovered evidence from the vehicle’s data recorder that reportedly showed Kellar was traveling 71 mph in a 45-mph speed zone approximately five seconds before the crash.
LPD recovered Kellar’s medical records and hospital toxicology report, which indicated Kellar’s blood-alcohol level was 0.321 — four times the legal limit, said Sullins.
If found guilty, Kellar could be sentenced from 2-20 years in prison and ordered to pay up to a $10,000 fine.
Prior to the removal of his professional LinkedIn page, Kountze Class of 2007’s Kellar listed himself as a company representative for Navidad Energy Advisors of Bullard from March 2023 until this past week. According to an email response on May 31 by Harold McGowen, chief executive officer at Navidad Operating Company, LLC, Kellar is not an employee of Navidad Energy Advisors, which is an engineering consulting company. He has no connection to Navidad Energy Advisors.
“As of this afternoon,” McGowen explained, Kellar “is an employee of Navidad Operating Company, LLC, which is an oil and gas operating company separate from Navidad Energy Advisors.
“He is not a ‘corporate representative’ of any kind. He was engaged as an operations field technician.”
Ingham, a longtime Vidor resident, spent 25 years working as an esthetician, according to her obituary. Sullins said Ingham was head to Tyler County after attending a graduation for her foster children at Port Arthur Memorial High School.
Funeral services for Ingham were conducted June 2 at Memorial Funeral Home in Vidor and the burial was June 3 at Restlawn Memorial Park in Vidor.