A 58-year-old Centralia man posted $25,000 cash bond Friday and was released after he was formally charged in Marion County court with reckless homicide stemming from a May 15 fatal crash in Central City.

Thomas Joy was previously cited by police with driving under the influence and failure to yield at an intersection for pulling his pickup truck out of an alleyway next to the Broadway Tavern in Central City and into the path of a motorcycle driven by 65-year-old Jerry Clarkson, of Odin.

Clarkson was being airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis when he coded in flight and was taken instead to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese where he died from his injuries.

The reckless homicide charge is a Class 3 felony punishable by between 2 and 5 years in prison if convicted. However, prosecutors say additional charges could be filed pending the results of search warrants filed for the results of a blood draw on Joy and for the computer in his pickup truck.

Joy, who is one of the owners of the Centralia Morning Sentinel, refused to take a breathalyzer test following the crash. He was arrested and taken to the Central City Police Department where he posted $100 cash bond and was released with the two citations and a notice to appear in court.

A preliminary hearing on the felony case is scheduled for June 18, at which time a first appearance will be made on the traffic citations, as well.

This is the second DUI Joy has received in Marion County. In 1991 he was charged and convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was sentenced to court supervision.