Nia Hinson
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jan. 3, 2022, is a day first responders, like Boone County Assistant Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp, struggle to relive.
“It was a very horrific wreck,” Blomenkamp said. “One of the worst I’ve seen in my 34 years of doing business here.”
Blomenkamp was one of several first responders to respond to a crash on Highway 63 near Lake Road in Boone County. The Boone County Fire Protection District got the call around 7:30 p.m. that someone had been driving the wrong way and crashed head-on into another vehicle.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol later found the crash to be connected with the sale of alcohol to a minor. The person who sold that alcohol was also allegedly associated with another liquor store three years later.
Firefighters didn’t know the extent of what they were walking into. All they knew was that law enforcement officers already on scene were calling for additional ambulances and a possible death. They arrived to find two vehicles with extensive damage and confirmed three people had died.
About 30 minutes after they were originally dispatched, first responders discovered a fourth person was dead. That included three in an SUV, and the 19-year-old wrong-way driver in a separate vehicle.
The wreck left three adults dead and killed a 10-year-old girl. Three children were also injured.
According to the crash report, Keith Sumner was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes, colliding head-on with 29-year-old Jessica McKinlay and her five passengers. Officials also said that 34-year-old Christopher McClain and 19-year-old Keith Sumner died in the crash.
“You got little kids that are now going to the hospital without a parent, or two siblings that have gone to the hospital knowing that another one is probably deceased at the scene,” Blomenkamp said. “You got families that are trying to reach loved ones, and they can’t reach them. Phones are just ringing, ringing, ringing. Many times we’ll see on the screen mom or dad calling … that makes it pretty hard to do those extrications.”
Dash Convenience and Liquor Store on Ninth Street sold alcohol to Sumner that day, a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation found. The crash happened later.
An investigation also found that the store had sold Sumner alcohol several times and had sold it to other minors without checking identification. The store lost its license to sell alcohol months later, in June.
Blomenkamp said it’s never the firefighters’ responsibility to figure out what caused a crash, but there were indications that alcohol played a factor that night.
“The liquor bottles, the alcohol, that were scattered amongst in that one car, it seemed pretty obvious, but again, that is just a suspicion on our part,” Blomenkamp said.
More than three years later, a southwest Columbia liquor store’s doors are still shut, after its license to sell alcohol was revoked. Spring Creek Liquor — owned by Liquor Vault LLC — had its license revoked in August, after the owners did not appeal the state’s decision to take the license.
Records obtained by ABC 17 News from the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control show the store’s license was revoked after it was discovered the owners of Dash Convenience Store — Jay Patel and Dashrath Patel — were associated with the business.
Court records show Dashrath was charged with selling alcohol to a minor the day of the deadly crash. Court documents say he sold four 50 ml-sized bottles of alcohol to a “K.S.” He paid a $300 fine in January 2023.
The Missouri Secretary of State’s Office listed the two as owners of the business as of 2017.
According to documents, Alcohol and Tobacco Control received an anonymous complaint on Feb. 24, 2025, stating two people were working at the store who were barred from having anything to do with a liquor business. The two identified as those individuals were Dashrath and Jay Patel.
Under Missouri law, a person whose license was revoked is not eligible to apply for a new one until five years after the date of the revocation.
Documents state Spring Creek Liquor applied for its original license in August 2024. The business then received its license to sell liquor on Sept. 5, 2024.
Alcohol and Tobacco Control then launched an investigation.
ATC’s investigation
Spring Creek investigative documentsDownload
The agency found that Jashiben Patel was president of the business. Jay Patel is her son, and she is married to Dashrath.
An agent requested tax records related to the business from the Department of Revenue on Feb. 24 and found four tax registration applications with Jashiben listed as the president, but with what appeared to be Jay Patel’s signature.
The following day, a black vehicle — registered to Jay Patel — was seen sitting outside of the store.
The next month, the ATC sent a subpoena to the City of Columbia for any applications for a city liquor license, as well as documentation for utilities associated with the store. An application for commercial utility customers and a W-9 tax form were found with what again appeared to be Jay Patel’s signature.
A city application for selling alcoholic beverages was signed by Jashiben, records show.
A credit application from the business listed the First State Community Bank in Columbia as the holder of the account, differing from the bank listed on the business’s liquor license application, investigators claimed. The store’s liquor license application listed Simmons Bank in Columbia as the bank that would maintain the financial accounts, according to documents.
Jasharath and Jay Patel also showed the same address as the one Jashiben listed on the application for herself.
A subpoena of First State Community Bank revealed multiple checks from Liquor Vault LLC were also signed by Jay Patel, according to investigators.
An agent from the ATC also sent requests to local distributors who had emails listed for Jashiben and Jay Patel as their contacts.
On March 7, an agent entered the store, hoping to identify whether Jay or Dashrath was working there.
After purchasing a can of Budweiser, the agent stated that the man who checked him out was Jay Patel, based on photos from the Department of Revenue.
Then, on April 4, records show an agent from the ATC tried to contact Jashiben Patel about the violations by phone. Documents say a man answered and stated the agent had the wrong phone number, only to later state Jashiben was in the bathroom after the agent identified that he was with the ATC.
After failed attempts to reach Jashiben by phone, the agent sent an email explaining the violations regarding the store’s license.
Days later, on April 11, the ATC received a renewal for the store’s license, which listed the checks provided to pay for the renewal from First State Community Bank, different from the bank listed on the original application.
The ATC accused the store of providing false answers by not disclosing everyone involved in the financial aspect of the business. Records lay out its claims that Dasaharath and Jay wrote multiple checks from their personal bank accounts for use by the business, that the wrong bank account was listed on the business paperwork and that people with revoked licenses worked in the store.
Jay Patel was also charged in December 2021 for selling alcohol to a minor, later pleading guilty in February 2023. Court documents claim he sold a 50-ml bottle of alcohol to a “K.S.”
The store is also accused of failing to report a change of facts and of violating its oath. The ATC also accuses Jashiben of having a “lack of good moral character” by providing false answers and attesting that everything included in the application was true.
“The attempt to conceal these facts from ATC by providing false answers on the application and withholding information in order to hide the fact that Dasharath [sic] Patel and Jay Patel do not have the prerequisite of good moral character as required to qualify for an alcohol license,” documents say.
ATC Vault Liquor decisionDownload
In a message sent to ABC 17 News via social media, Jay Patel wrote that he volunteered without pay at the store to help out his family. ABC 17 News asked Patel for an interview several times, including via Zoom or phone call, but Patel said he was out of town in Illinois and unavailable.
Dashrath and Jashiben Patel did not respond to multiple messages left by ABC 17 News seeking more information.
Jay Patel seeks expungement of criminal record
Jay Patel is hoping to have his conviction of supplying liquor to a minor erased.
According to online court records, a petition to have his record expunged was filed in a Boone County court on Aug. 15. Patel was charged in December 2021 for supplying liquor to a minor.
He was sentenced and paid a $300 fine in February 2023.
Court documents show Patel is looking to have the record expunged, claiming he is not a threat to public safety, that the case did not include an allegation of violence. Patel wrote that he is employed and has a “good work history.”
Documents claim Patel has been negatively affected in the past because of his record.
Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said that, in cases like these, it all comes down to whether a person qualifies for expungement.
“The judge is going to look and see: have they picked up any new cases since their initial conviction? Has it been enough time, and is the conviction one that qualifies under the statute?” Johnson said. “There is an exception that allows the judge to take into consideration a victim in a case … but otherwise, if the defendant qualifies for the expungement, they’re generally entitled to it under the statute.”
Johnson said under the current Missouri law, people are granted three expungements on misdemeanor cases and two for felonies. People are required to wait a year after they’ve completed their sentence to try to have their record expunged. That increases to three years for felony cases.
Violent offenses and more serious stealing offenses aren’t eligible for expungement, Johnson said.
Patel’s attorney did not respond to multiple messages from ABC 17 News seeking an interview.
Liquor license revocations across the state
The ATC has revoked several Missouri businesses’ licenses over the years
According to records from the ATC, 23 businesses have lost their liquor licenses within the last five years.
Five of those were businesses in Boone County.
Revocations in Columbia include Dash Convenience Store and Spring Creek Liquor. Records also show the former nightclub located on Business Loop 70, Plush Lounge, had its license revoked in April 2024.
The former Kraken Bar and Grill in Jefferson City lost its license in September 2020 over claims of improper acts and immoral character. Dugout Bar and Grill in Mexico also lost its license in November 2021.
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