MAN ACCUSED IN HIT AND RUN HAS A LONG RECORD

Man accused in hit and run has a long record

Posted on by Rick Watts

The man accused of killing a 9-year-old boy in a hit-and-run incident has a long history in area courtrooms, including several driving citations.  Court records show Terry Petary, 41, Drakesville, was convicted of driving while suspended in 1996 and 1998 in Wapello County.  He was convicted of driving while barred with a habitual offender enhancement in 2011. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence and two years’ probation in the latter case.

Along with those convictions are a string of mostly minor convictions in Wapello, Davis and Appanoose counties. Those include a 1998 conviction for public intoxication and a 2000 conviction for theft in Davis County.  In 2000 he was sentenced to five years in prison, which were suspended, and three years’ probation in a Wapello County burglary case. Two years later he was sent to prison for five years for illegally possessing lithium.
Most recently in Appanoose County in 2016 Petary was given a suspended 363-day sentence for possession of methamphetamine. Court records show he served two days of shock time and was fined $315.

Petary now faces a charge of vehicular homicide in Davis County. Law enforcement said Monday he was driving the white Dodge pickup that struck two brothers walking along 180th Street. Merlin Beechy, 9, died. Nathan Beechy, 12, was taken by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.  Investigators found damage consistent with the collision in West Grove, about five miles southwest of the scene, and detained Petary.

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