Springfield man intentionally crashed car while threatening to kill passenger, trooper says

Correction: The first-degree assault charge in this case would be a class B felony. Based off information from a probable cause statement, a previous version of this story inaccurately stated the nature of the charge.

A Springfield man faces first-degree assault charges after a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper found reason to believe he threatened to intentionally crash his car to kill himself and a woman with him.

Gilbert Hoffer Jr., 57, was driving with a woman on Interstate 44 early Sunday morning when his car crashed into the median, according to court documents.

A highway patrol trooper was notified and arrived to find Hoffer and the woman near a white Hyundai. Hoffer claimed he had owned the car for more than a year, but the trooper determined the vehicle was neither insured nor registered.

Hoffer told the trooper he hit the median cables after swerving to dodge a deer, but the woman had a different story.

She said Hoffer became angry after he read her text messages and accused her of cheating on him. While driving to her house, the woman told the highway patrol, Hoffer accelerated to above 120 mph and threatened to "knock her f------ teeth out" unless she gave him her cell phone, according to court documents.

The woman said Hoffer "told her he was going to intentionally crash and kill her and himself" and "told her he would put a bullet through her head if he found out she was cheating on him," the trooper wrote.

At this point, the trooper handcuffed Hoffer and put him in the front seat of the patrol car. The vehicle's in-car camera captured Hoffer cursing the woman and saying "I knew she was gonna do that s---."

Less than 15 minutes after arriving on the scene, the trooper read Hoffer his rights and told him the crash seemed intentional.

"I'm not gonna wreck my car for nobody," Hoffer told the trooper. He added that he had asked the woman to show her his phone and couldn't recall what happened after he reached for the phone, the trooper wrote.

Hoffer was in the Greene County Jail as of Monday morning, and his bond was set at $50,000.

First-degree assault is a Class B felony.