An Iowa man’s family is mourning his death after a drunk driver struck and killed him, revealing a tragic family pattern.
Michael Sales, a 70-year-old Council Bluffs man, died after being rear-ended by a drunk driver while driving home from work in September 2024, according to NBC affiliate WOWT.
According to ABC affiliate KETV, prosecutors said the driver, Rachel Bickerstaff, hit 139 mph just seconds before the fatal collision. Sales’ car caught fire on impact, killing her three children, including a five-year-old, a newborn, and an 18-month-old, according to WOWT.
The Sales family stated that a similar tragedy occurred in a previous generation, forcing their father to suffer the same loss they are now dealing with.
“His own mother — my grandmother — was killed by a drunk driver when he was just 2 years old,” Laura Sales said in court in a video shared by WOWT. “He grew up an only child on a farm outside of Crescent, Iowa.”
“He read to me every night when I was a little girl, he held my hand when I was scared and would play with me until I fell asleep,” she shared with the jury. “He never missed a game, a recital or a single moment that mattered.”
On Wednesday, June 18, Bickerstaff was sentenced to 140-180 years in prison and had her license revoked for 15 years. KETV reports that she will be eligible for parole after 70 years.
