DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines man charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash that resulted in the death of a man last year has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
In June 2025, the Des Moines Police Department was called to the intersection of Merle Hay Road and Hickman Road for a report of a vehicle that hit a pedestrian and fled. First responders found Andrew Verwers, 53, suffering from injuries he sustained from being hit by the vehicle. He was transported to a hospital but later died.
Officers arrested Mario Campos, 44, in connection with the crash and charged him with homicide by vehicle – OWI, a class B felony, and leaving the scene of an accident causing death, a class D felony.
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According to criminal complaints, Verwers was sitting on the median when Campos drove his Dodge Ram pickup over the median, striking Verwers, and knocking down a traffic sign before fleeing. Officers found Campos in the 2500 block of 44th Street and, according to the complaints, he admitted to being the driver of the pickup. The complaints also claimed that officers could smell alcohol on Campos and that a preliminary breath test showed he was over the legal limit, which is .08 in Iowa.
Court records show that Campos pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and submitted an Alford plea for another. Campos entered a guilty plea to homicide by vehicle by reckless driving, a class C felony, and entered an Alford plea to a class C felony of leaving the scene of an accident causing death. Alford pleas allow defendants to plead guilty and still maintain their innocence by acknowledging there’s likely compelling evidence that could lead to a conviction…