After a driver crossed into the wrong lane of travel and crashed into an oncoming vehicle east of Cody Monday afternoon, authorities suspected the 37-year-old man was drunk and placed him under arrest. Charging documents say a subsequent breath test confirmed their suspicions, as it allegedly pegged the Cody resident’s blood alcohol content at nearly five times the legal limit for driving.

The crash on the Corbett Bridge on U.S. Highway 14-A reportedly didn’t result in severe injuries, but it has resulted in serious charges.

Wade D. McMillin faces a misdemeanor count of driving while under the influence of alcohol plus felony counts of property destruction and aggravated assault and battery. The assault charge alleges that McMillin “did knowingly cause bodily injury” with a deadly weapon — that is, his 2022 Toyota Corolla — to the Powell couple  in the other vehicle. Meanwhile, the property destruction charge alleges that McMillin “did knowingly injure or destroy” the older couple’s 2012 Ford F-150.

Charging documents say both the couple’s truck and McMillin’s sedan were totaled in the collision, which ripped the front driver’s side wheel off the Ford.

First responders initially believed the couple had escaped injury, but the man later reported increasing foot pain and his wife reported chest soreness; both sought medical attention at a local hospital on Tuesday, charging documents say.

“It’s only by the grace of God that he's not dead and the two victims are not dead,” Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Hatfield said at McMillin’s initial court appearance on Wednesday afternoon.

Law enforcement officers were first dispatched around 3:40 p.m., when a caller reported that a Toyota Corolla was traveling all over U.S. 14A and going into oncoming traffic near Sage Creek, just east of Cody. However, the crash occurred before officers could respond.

The driver of the Ford told authorities that he and his wife were heading west across the Corbett Bridge when he saw McMillin’s Corolla coming into their lane. Marks at the scene and witnesses indicated that the eastbound Corolla went as far as the fog line, Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Pence wrote in a charging affidavit.

The driver reportedly recalled trying to move over, but being limited by the guardrail along the bridge. The two vehicles crashed on their front driver’s sides.

While traffic was temporarily disrupted, Pence said that fire and EMS personnel, Park County sheriff’s deputies, Finishing Touch collision repair and good Samaritans at the scene “worked together to treat everyone, clean up the scene, and get traffic moving normally.”

When the lieutenant initially spoke to McMillin, he wrote that the suspect “had very slow responses to my questions, slurred his speech and seemed very impaired.”

Trooper Danny Hite added in his own affidavit that McMillin clearly smelled like alcohol and was “very unsteady on his feet.”

McMillin reportedly told the trooper that he’d fallen asleep at the wheel, explaining that he’d started work around 4 a.m. McMillin also allegedly said he’d consumed about six shots of vodka, and officers found a vodka bottle behind the passenger seat, charging documents say.

Hite administered sobriety tests at the scene and then arrested McMillin. He said two intoximeter tests, administered at the Park County Detention Center more than an hour after the crash, put McMillin’s blood alcohol content at 0.38% and 0.392%.

Hatfield cited that level of impairment in asking that bond be set at $25,000 cash. The prosecutor called it “unbelievable” that McMillin was even able to stand, describing the blood alcohol content as evidence of “a serious alcohol problem.”

“No reasonable person could have thought that they were anywhere close to being in a condition for driving as he was,” Hatfield said.

For his part, McMillin asked for a surety bond so he could return to his job as a cook this (Thursday) morning.

Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah ultimately set bond at $25,000 cash or surety. However, beyond the standard conditions of staying away from bars and alcohol, Darrah added a requirement to participate in a Park County Treatment Court pretrial drug/alcohol testing program.

“You’re presumed innocent, but based on what I’ve seen here, most people would not be conscious with that sort of a blood alcohol content,” Darrah said. “In fact, some people would die from that, there would be alcohol poisoning. So I do have a very serious concern.”

A preliminary hearing is tentatively set for May 30.