Iowa offensive lineman Dan Heiar has been charged with drunken driving after he was involved in a single-car accident in April.

The native of Charlotte, Iowa, was charged on June 27, according to online court records. He pleaded not guilty on July 11 and is scheduled to be arraigned on at 9 a.m. on July 29.

Heiar, a 6-5, 285-pound transfer from Iowa Western Community College, reportedly drove his 2000 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup into a ditch alongside westbound Interstate 80 near West Branch on April 10.

State Patrol Trooper Matt Costello told the Des Moines Register it took more than an hour to remove Heiar from the vehicle, which flipped onto its roof after striking a guardrail and going down a hill into the ditch.

"He was conscious when the firefighters got there, then he was silent," Costello told the Register.

Heiar was reportedly taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he spent several weeks after the crash. His injuries were unspecified, but Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz called them "significant" in a teleconference on April 12.

— by Seth Roberts