A 21-year-old Churdan man was arrested Monday for his role in the death of his friend Sept. 14 in Boone County.
Larry Lee-Warren Varnell was arrested by Boone and Greene County deputies and a Jefferson police officer at the Greene County law enforcement center Monday (Oct. 6) at 10:45 am. He is charged in Boone County with providing alcohol to an underage person resulting in death, a class D felony.
Aaron Beaman, 20, of Jefferson was killed in a one vehicle rollover accident in the 600 block of L Ave in Boone County. Jefferson police officer Heath Enns was working as a Boone County deputy the morning of Sept. 14. He and an Iowa State Patrol trooper investigated the accident.
According to the complaint filed in the Boone County case, Beaman was dead at the scene due to head injuries. The complaint noted a strong smell of alcohol on Beaman’s body and several Budweiser cans at the scene.
In the course of the investigation, Enns learned that Beaman had spent several hours Sept. 13, a Saturday, driving around Greene County drinking with Varnell and another friend. The witness friend, a 19-year-old, reported Varnell had purchased a case of Budweiser in Jefferson and that Beaman was very intoxicated.
Video footage from the convenience store showed Varnell purchasing an 18-pack of beer. Video footage from a convenience store in Churdan showed Beaman with Varnell as he purchased a 12-pack of Bush Light that same day.
Varnell was booked into the Boone County jail and was released on bond on Monday. A class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $750 to $7,500.
See an Oct. 5 post on GreeneCountyNewsOnline for information of Greene County charges against Varnell.
