Updated — April 26, 7:08 p.m.

Bachelor star Chris Soules has spoken out for the first time since his involvement in a fatal accident that claimed the life of fellow farmer Kenneth Mosher.

“My family and I are overwhelmed with this tragedy, but we are sticking together and we’ll get through it,” the 35-year-old Iowa native tells In Touch exclusively. “Thank you for reaching out.”


Originally published — April 26, 1:35 p.m.

New details have emerged and we have the latest update on former Bachelor Chris Soules and his tragically fatal car accident.

Life & Style previously reported, the 35-year-old reality star was arrested at his home in Iowa at around 1:16 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26 for leaving the scene of a crime after he rear-ended a tractor with his pickup truck — killing a 66-year-old local farmer named Kenneth Mosher.

Keep reading below to find out everything we know so far about the accident and Chris’ charges.

chris soules splash

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Fled the scene of the crime

Chris was charged with a class D felony of leaving the scene of an accident causing death. He was not charged with driving under the influence, although court documents obtained by People revealed that he was allegedly in possession of alcoholic beverages and containers at the time of the crash, which occurred at around 8 p.m on Monday, April 24 just one mile outside of Aurora, Iowa.

Called 911

Although he did flee, it has been revealed that he did stop to check on the driver and call the police — and he stood on the call for about five minutes. In the audio recording of his 911 call obtained by TMZ, Chris sounded winded and upset as he tried to give the exact location of the accident for first responders.

“I rear-ended a guy on a tractor,” he can be heard saying, out of breath. “He’s not conscious.”

Shortly after the call ended, another car came to pick Chris up and he fled, TMZ reported. When Sheriff’s deputies found him at home, Chris allegedly refused to come out and the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department had to get a search warrant in order to arrest him hours later.

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Was released on bail

Chris was arrested around 1:16 a.m. on Tuesday and spent the night in jail until his mother, Linda, posted his $10,000 bail, Entertainment Tonight reported. He has to check in with a probation officer to get an ankle bracelet to monitor his whereabouts and he also was ordered to turn in his passport — which means he will have to back out of filming a Bachelor-related special that was scheduled to take place out of the country.

His spokesperson released a statement

“Chris Soules was involved in an accident Monday evening (April 24) in a rural part of Iowa near his home. He was devastated to learn that Kenneth Mosher, the other person in the accident, passed away. His thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Mosher’s family,” read a statement obtained by People.

He deleted his Instagram

Shortly after news broke about his accident, fans rushed to Chris’ Instagram page and they flooded his posts with comments either defending him or bashing him for his accident.

chris soules

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Victim’s family defended him

Robert Roepke’s daughter is married to the victim’s son and he spoke out in defense of Chris. He called the accident “very tragic” and “sad.” He also said that Kenneth and Chris knew each other because Kenneth was also a farmer and their farmland shared a border.

“Chris comes from a good family and is still well-vested in farming. He’s got a great life ahead of him,” he told People. “This is a serious bump in the road and I don’t know about his [alleged] alcohol issue but I just know that this was a huge mistake. It’s something he’s going to have to deal with for the rest of his life. It just ended very tragically.”

Not his first run-in with the law

Chris has at least 14 offenses on his record that date back to 1998, according to Iowa state court records obtained by Entertainment Tonight. Most of them are vehicle-related.

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