Charges filed in Bluffs crash

COUNCIL BLUFFS -- A Council Bluffs teen has been charged with motor vehicle homicide following investigation of an Aug. 24 crash that killed a Carter Lake man.

Members of the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force served an arrest warrant on Christopher Kopelciw, 19, this morning. Police accident reconstructionist Darren Budd said Kopelciw was charged with suspicion of motor vehicle homicide.

Adam Burk, 53, of Carter Lake was pronounced dead after his 1998 Chevy Malibu was struck from the rear on westbound Interstate 80 near the Interstate 29 southbound split on Aug. 24.

A witness told investigators a 2004 Pontiac GTO, which police say was driven by Kopelciw, was driving in excess of 100 mph and swerving in and out of traffic before hitting Burk's car. Reports said the GTO then spun, striking the corner of the guardrail before crossing the interstate and striking the left guardrail, where it came to rest.

Kopelciw and his two passengers, Skyler Archer and Michael Montgomery, both 19 and from Council Bluffs, received minor injuries in the crash.

Motor vehicle homicide is a Class C felony in Iowa and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Kopelciw was being held this morning at the Pottawattamie County Jail on a $25,000 bond.