On Sunday, July 2, 2023, at approximately 3:44 p.m., Blaine County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a two-vehicle collision with injuries on U.S. Highway 20 at Gannett Rd. in Bellevue, Idaho.
Crash scene investigation determined that a family of five from Grosse Point, Michigan, was traveling westbound on Hwy 20 in a 2015 Honda Odyssey when Christopher Bruce Simms, age 38 of Bellevue, Idaho, traveling eastbound turned left onto Gannet Rd. directly in front of their vehicle. The driver of the Odyssey did not have time to react and collided with Simms's 2015 white Ford Explorer. 
All five members of the family from Michigan were transported to St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center with various injuries. The driver, a 39-year-old female, a 40-year-old male front seat passenger, an 8-year-old female second-row passenger, and a 6-year-old male third-row passenger all sustained minor to moderate injuries. A 9-year-old second-row female passenger sustained serious life-threatening injuries and was later transported by air ambulance to Saint Alphonsus Trauma Center in Boise.
Simms, who denied medical treatment, was arrested and charged with felony Aggravated Driving Under the Influence, I.C. 18-8006, Possession of a Controlled Substance of Less Than Three Ounces, I.C. 37-2732(C)(3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, I.C. 37-2734A, and Possession of an Open Container of Alcohol, I.C. 23-505. Simms was also cited for Failure to Provide Proof of Vehicle Insurance, I.C. 49-1232, and Failure to Yield the Right-of-Way, I.C. 49-641.
Both vehicles sustained severe damages and were towed from the scene.
Simms was arraigned in Magistrate Court on July 3, 2023, where the court set a combined bond of $200,000. As of publication, Simms remains in the custody of the Blaine County Detention Center. 
Steve Harkins
Blaine County Sheriff
Posted: 2:15 p.m. on July 5, 2023
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