National DUI Report for the week ending Oct. 3, 2009
The worst of the nation’s DUI cases for the week. Our continued commitment to demonstrate the constant trail of blood on our highways due to drinking and driving.
Supt: We’ll take action in teacher DUI
BRISTOL, R.I. (WPRI) — The superintendent of Bristol Warren Regional School District said the district will take action after a second-grade teacher in Bristol was arrested on drunk driving charges while on her way to school Monday morning. Kathleen Borgia, 43, a teacher at Colt Andrews Elementary School , pleaded not guilty to the charges in court Monday afternoon. Borgia was released on $10,000 bond with surety. She will return to court on October 9th. Superintendent Ed Mara said there will be actions taken. “We are working with our attorneys and have taken the necessary steps to ensure our students’ safety,” Mara said. Mara said his office is still awaiting a copy of the police report. He also stressed Borgia is entitled to due process and is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. It’s not the first alcohol-related incident involving Borgia.
Guilty plea from woman charged with running over 3 month old
OLIVIA [MN] — Nicolle Marie Mercedes Prechel, 31, of Willmar, pleaded guilty Monday to causing the death of a child and injuring the child’s mother. Prechel backed a van over their tent July 5 in Renville County’s Beaver Falls Park, causing the death of 3-month-old Whyatt James Sander and injuring his mother, Sheena Hinshaw, 21. During a court appearance Monday in Olivia, Prechel entered guilty pleas to criminal vehicular homicide for Sander’s death and to criminal vehicular homicide – causing bodily harm while under the influence for the injuries to his mother. Her guilty pleas were part of a plea agreement in which she pleaded to the most serious of the two sets of charges she faced for the infant’s death and the mother’s injuries. District Judge Steve Drange accepted the guilty pleas and dismissed four other related charges. He ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for Nov. 12.
Jury deliberates Fierro case
SANTA FE (KRQE) — After six days of testimony the vehicular homicide case against Santa Fe attorney Carlos Fierro is in the hands of the jury. Both the defense and prosecution rested their cases late Monday afternoon and presented their closing arguments to the jurors. As the defense wrapped up Fierro’s attorney said the victim, pedestrian William Tenorio, was a contributor in the fatal crash that happened last November in downtown Santa Fe. “If Mr. Tenorio in his dark clothing, and his being distracted, and being impaired as well and on the phone, walking where he shouldn’t have been walking, and he had the duty to avoid this car, if that was just a cause of his death, a significant cause of his death, then Fierro is not guilty of this, that’s what our law says,” defense attorney Bob Gorence said. The prosecution spoke about the loss of Tenorio and said his family has had to sit through the trial and hear Tenorio being blamed for his own death. “We didn’t want to buy into the argument that this was an accident because this is not an accident,” District Attorney Angela “Spence” Pacheco said. “An accident is something that is unavoidable, and driving drunk is not an accident.” Fierro himself took the stand Monday and admitted he had been drinking and driving the night he is accused of hitting and killing Tenorio. Fierro said he had six drinks at Rio Chama, where he went with former New Mexico State Police Sgt. Alfred Lovato. A blood alcohol test showed Fierro was nearly three times the presumed level of intoxication after the crash.
Woman charged in fatal hit-and-run
Angela Marie Arellano, an Iowa courts interpreter, was charged Monday with vehicular homicide while intoxicated in connection with a hit-and-run accident that left one Des Moines teen dead and another injured. Arellano, 36, was accompanied by her lawyer when she turned herself in to police, Des Moines Sgt. Lori Lavorato said. Devin Fry, 13; Rabiatu Juliana Timothy, 17; and Marcus Ira-Jenkins, 15, were heading north on foot across East University Avenue around 11:45 p.m. Saturday when a dark-colored Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling west in the 1600 block hit Fry and Timothy, launching them nearly 50 feet in front of the vehicle, police said. The vehicle also ran over Fry and Timothy. Lavorato declined to comment further on the intoxication portion of the charge against Arellano or provide insight into her condition at the time of the crash. Lavorato did not say where Arellano was coming from when the accident occurred. In addition to the vehicular homicide while intoxicated charge, Arellano was charged with serious injury by vehicle. If convicted, Arellano faces 25 years in prison on the vehicular homicide charge and five years for the serious injury by vehicle charge. She is being held in the Polk County Jail on an $80,000 cash-only bond.
Trial begins for case of Upchurch
Trial began Monday in 173rd District Court for a Gun Barrel City [TX] man accused of intoxication manslaughter. Shawn W. Upchurch, 35, was arrested in November, 2008 for causing the death of 74-year-old Horton R. Bunch of rural Brownsboro. The victim was struck as he stood in the door of his vehicle on County Road 3204 less than a mile from the Brownsboro city limits. A Henderson County Grand Jury indicted Upchurch on the charge in February. Intoxication manslaughter is a second-degree felony, and carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $20,000 upon conviction.
Ocalan may get life for DUI manslaughter
The Ocala [FL] man who caused a five-vehicle wreck in November on Maricamp Road near Forest High School has been found guilty of eight criminal counts, including two of DUI manslaughter. Vishnu D. Persaud, 36, had four times the legal limit of alcohol in his system at the time of the Nov. 4 crash. Sentencing will be Oct. 22, and he is eligible for life in prison. His 2008 Nissan Titan pickup rammed into the back of a Saturn, killing two of its occupants: Joshua L. Batista, 20, and his girlfriend, Nastasha M. Vargas, 22. Batista’s cousin, Andrew Timothy Santiago, suffered injuries. “It’s 6 o’clock in the evening, right in front of Forest High School, where people are dropping their kids off for football practice,” prosecutor Robin Arnold said Monday. “He plowed into the back of these cars stopped at a red light.” There was also a greater amount of traffic than usual because it was Election Day, Arnold noted; people were going to the school to vote. Upon impact, the Saturn crashed into an Oldsmobile, which in turn crashed into a Dodge pickup that spun and hit an Honda van. Witnesses reported that Persaud was driving erratically. He was traveling 70 mph at the point of impact in a 55 mph zone. His blood alcohol content was 0.33, more than four times the legal limit of 0.08. At his two-day trial, which ended Friday, Persaud also was convicted of driving without a valid driver’s license, DUI impairment causing personal injury and DUI impairment causing property damage. Persaud, who has a misdemeanor DUI conviction from 2003, is eligible for life imprisonment but is likely to receive at least 21 years in prison. Prior to trial, he rejected a state plea offer of 25 years behind bars.
CG schools police chief accused of DUI
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — The head of Center Grove Schools’ police force admitted to his boss he was drunk when he got pulled over in a sobriety checkpoint early Saturday. John Cox, the schools’ police chief, is now on unpaid leave and facing charges.
Center Grove Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Stephanoff said Cox has handed over his badge and gun. Stephenoff added that he was disappointed to learn his police chief was in such trouble.
According to a police report, early Saturday morning, Officer Travis Wampler said he smelled alcohol and Cox’s eyes were blood shot.
The report said Cox voluntarily took several field sobriety tests and failed them all. Later, at the Johnson County Jail, a certified breath test registered his alcohol level at .09.
Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper said as many as 15 people face charges from that checkpoint.
“Worked with him on a couple of cases. I always found him to be a very reasonable, experienced police officer. But in the end, he’s going to be treated just like anybody else that was stopped out there that night,” said Cooper.
Superintendent Stephenoff said when Cox was hired two years ago, the interview committee knew Cox had been arrested for drunk driving in 1980, but Stephanoff said he was unaware of the record.
“If I had known it, I probably would have considered it. But I think I still would have hired him because he was the best man for the job when we did the interviews,” he said.
Akron woman crashes car, injures child, nets seventh DUI
An Akron [OH] woman is jailed on her seventh drunken driving charge after crashing her car into another and injuring a child. Stephanie Foy, 45, of Hoover Avenue, is being held in the Summit County Jail. Akron police have charged her with DUI, tampering with evidence and obstructing official business. Police say her arrest Friday was her seventh for drunken driving since 1995. Police say Foy was driving a 2002 Dodge Dakota that crashed into another vehicle about 3:30 p.m. Friday near Case Avenue and Newton Street. A 6-year-old child was in the back seat of the car Foy struck, police said. The boy was treated for minor injuries. The driver of the car was not identified in reports. Police at the scene said Foy smelled of alcohol, her eyes were bloodshot and her speech was slurred. She could not stand on her own and stumbled after exiting the vehicle. police said. After she was arrested, Foy became belligerent and refused to give her name or to take a test to determine her blood-alcohol percentage, police said.
Man sentenced in DUI death of JCC teen
JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — The driver convicted of driving drunk and killing a James City County teen in April was sentenced Monday. Matthew Burch, 36, will serve 24 years in prison followed by 19 years on probation for 19-year-old Christopher Mellis’ death. State Police told WAVY.com Burch’s car was going in the opposite direction on Richmond Road when he drifted into Mellis’ lane and hit his car head-on. “I never, no matter what you’ve gone through in your life, there’s nothing to compare with the pain of losing your child,” Donna Mellis told WAVY.com back in April. “You might as well go out in the street with an oozie and start shooting, it’s no different.” Mellis says her son was following behind a friend, who swerved to avoid Burch. But Mellis didn’t have time to react. The Williamsburg James City County Commonwealth Attorney confirmed Burch had two prior DUI convictions within the last ten years. “This shouldn’t happen, this isn’t an accident; this is not an accident,” said Donna Mellis. Donna Mellis says she had to see her son’s body. She described it as broken. But his soul, everyone described as unbreakable. “I’m starting to feel that he wasn’t met to be here for a long time because he seems to have touched so many people in his brief life,” said Mellis. She hopes her tragedy will be enough to prevent someone else’s. “It’s going to happen to other people, but if it can happen to one less or two less, my son’s death isn’t in vain,” said Mellis. Burch was convicted of DUI, Aggravated Involuntary Manslaughter, and Felony Homicide on July 13.
Driver arrested after deadly vehicle versus pedestrian collision
A Lubbock driver was behind bars Sunday evening accused of fatally hitting a pedestrian outside the Lonestar Amphitheater. Around 12:30 Sunday morning, witnesses say 40-year-old Mark Purvis was taking a picture of his band’s name on the marquee while standing in the 900-block of East 19th Street. His band “Darker Shade of Grey” had just performed at the venue. A 1999 Plymouth Voyager van struck Purvis. EMS took him to University Medical Center where he later died. “That was his whole life. Music,” says friend Manuel Gutierrez. “He loved playing music. He was just a good guy and I’m sad to see him go. I mean I lost a good friend that day.” “He would do anything for anyone just to help someone out,” says friend Joe Bocanegra. Police say the driver of the van, 56-year-old James Sanders, drove off, but returned to the scene. He was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter with a motor vehicle. Police are still investigating the accident.
Driver accused in jogger’s death pleads not guilty
BEAVERCREEK — Brian Hale, whose wife, Michelle, was struck and killed Aug. 24 while jogging, said he felt torn Monday by the news that police had charged the driver with vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter. Timothy C. Peters of Beavercreek pleaded not guilty Monday, Sept. 28, to the charges. A conviction for vehicular homicide, the more serious offense, would draw a sentence of up to 180 days in jail, plus a one– to five-year driver’s license suspension. “It’s mixed emotions, I guess,” Hale said. “I don’t know Mr. Peters, but he has to live with this for the rest of his life … just as we have to live without Michelle for the rest of ours.” Both charges are misdemeanors. Beavercreek Sgt. Jim Wuebben said there were no aggravating circumstances, such as intoxication, that would raise the charges to felony level under Ohio law. Michelle Hale, 44, of Beavercreek, was crossing Dayton-Xenia Road at Stedman Lane at 6:25 a.m.when she was struck by Peters’ westbound SUV, according to police. There is no traffic signal or marked crosswalk at that intersection, which is under construction. The incident report from Beavercreek police says Hale was three-fourths of the way across Dayton-Xenia, standing in a “striped-off, no-driving area” separating the through-traffic lane from a right turn lane.
Chico Man Dead after 3-Vehicle Crash
A Chico [CA] man is dead…a Glenn County man arrested after a 3-vehicle collision Sunday. The crash happened just before 1 AM on Highway 99. The CHP says 29 year old Fabian Aguayo was allegedly drunk when his truck collided with two other vehicles. One of the drivers, identified as Ismael Topete, died at the scene…three passengers were hurt. The CHP says Aguayo was taken to Enloe Medical Center with a spinal injury and faces charges including murder, manslaughter, and D-U-I
Traffic fatalities result in manslaughter arrest
The Madison [AL] Police Department made an arrest in a traffic fatality that took the lives of a 20-year old Madison resident and her unborn child. David James Mears was arrested for two counts of manslaughter in connection to an accident on Aug 22 in Madison. Accord to police, the car Mears was driving collided with another vehicle at Wall Triana Highway and Gooch Lane, killing the third –trimester pregnant passenger. After an investigation of the collision, the Madison Police Department obtained warrants and arrested Mears, who is 16, has been charged as an adult due to the nature of the crime. Police Chief Larry R. Muncey used the news of the arrest to remind motorists that reckless, negligent or inattentive driving could lead to criminal charges. “We at the Madison Police Department want to impress to all drivers and parents of young drivers what a huge responsibility it is to operate vehicles safely on our roadways. It’s not just your life you endanger, but others as well.” stated Muncey. Mears has posted a $40,000 bond. A court date has not been set.
Cop Accused of Manslaughter in Fatal DWI, Lawyer Blames Weather
Just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, Vionique Valnord, 32, was trying to hail a cab after a wedding reception in Flatbush when she was fatally struck by a Jeep Cherokee SUV; the driver was NYPD officer Andrew Kelly, 30, a seven-year veteran of the department who worked in the 68th Precinct. Four passengers in the SUV, one an off-duty cop, immediately fled the scene, but Kelly, who was off-duty, remained. His brother-in-law tells the Times that Kelly “performed CPR on the woman,” and one witness tells the Post, “[Kelly] got out of the car, and he was trying to resuscitate her. He got her breathing again by the time the ambulance got here.” Officer Kelly refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene, but a sergeant reported that he had red, watery eyes, slurred speech, and smelled of alcohol. Oh, and there were “alcoholic beverages” in the vehicle; a police source tells the Post a plastic beer cup was spotted near his seat. Kelly later obeyed a subpoena to take a blood test some seven hours later, but the results haven’t been made public yet. He was arraigned last night in Brooklyn Criminal Court, and charged with vehicular manslaughter and DWI. Kelly was released on $200,000 bond, but his driver’s license is suspended and the NYPD has suspended him without pay for 30 days. There are conflicting reports about the other off-duty cop in the SUV, Michael Downs of the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn. He claims that an investigator at the scene told him he was clear to leave, but other NYPD sources refute that and say Downs didn’t alert his superiors until he showed up for work yesterday. According to the Post, NYPD brass “were so angry over his leaving that they at first threatened to try to charge him criminally.” Downs, who has been suspended, kept a Facebook page with the motto “DRINK UP LIFE IS TOO SHORT!!!” and cited his favorite music as “any music that makes me drink. Lol.”
Teenager Charged with OWI Homicide
MADISON — A teenage boy in Dane County is being charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. Nathan Zander, 17, is accused of driving a pick-up truck drunk, crossing the center lane and hitting a car head-on in a crash that killed the driver of the car and critically injured her passenger. Zander was in the hospital in serious condition Monday morning.
Under the Influence: DUI justice off-balance
Since 2005 in Colorado, nearly a third of those convicted in deadly drinking and driving crashes were incarcerated for two years or less — and 13 of them spent no time behind bars at all. Drunken drivers kill more than 100 people each year in Colorado, and a Denver Post examination of every vehicular homicide-DUI case in the state from 2005 through early 2009 found that the typical sentence for those who were sent to prison was six years. But the same analysis found that nearly a third of the cases — 55 of 185 — resulted in jail, community corrections or work– release terms of 24 months or less. Included in that tally were more than a dozen instances in which defendants were allowed to plead to misdemeanor charges. Some of those who ended up with little or no prison time had prior drug and alcohol convictions, including one man with four prior drunken driving arrests before killing a passenger in his car in a police chase. He was sentenced to two years of work release. A number of others got jail terms of between 30 and 60 days. And one man got 10 days in jail in Larimer County after pleading guilty to careless driving causing death, a misdemeanor, after a crash that killed a 38-year-old woman. State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who plans to introduce legislation in January to make a repeat drunken driving arrest a felony, said some of the sentences stunned him. “We’ve got to address those areas where the law isn’t treating offenders as seriously as it needs to in order to prevent it from happening again,” Gardner said. READ MORE…
Cowboys Stadium G.M. pleads guilty to DUI
The General Manager of the North Texas Football Cathedral got into a little hot water earlier this year, as a result of a decision to drive his car after drinking some water with a little heat in it. And so Jack Hill has pleaded guilty to DUI. Hill has been sentenced to 15 days in a Tarrant County, Texas labor detail. A Cowboys spokesman said that Hill continues to serve as G.M. of the new arena. Though we’re not advocating that he should be fired completely, the notion that he’d continue in such a significant role at a time when the league is trying hard to persuade fans not to drive home drunk from places like Cowboys Stadium seems a little odd to us.
Mix-up puts drunk driver in work release, not jail
A clerical error allowed a man with six DUIs to go to work release when he was supposed to be in jail for a drunk-driving accident that shattered the lives of Myrna and Russ Haas. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office mistakenly allowed Johnny Dore the freedom to go to a job for roughly three months. He was able to drive part of that time with a restricted license that required a device in his vehicle to monitor his blood alcohol level, according to records from the Kansas Department of Revenue, which oversees the Division of Motor Vehicles. People saw Dore out at breakfast at restaurants during that time, said Myrna Haas, whose husband of 48 years is in a wheelchair and nursing home because of the accident. She remembers thinking: “There’s no way. It can’t be him.” But she called the jail and confirmed that Dore was, indeed, in work release instead of serving the 18-month jail sentence a judge had ordered. Sheriff Robert Hinshaw said his office is investigating how the mix-up occurred so that something like that doesn’t happen again. Dore went back to jail in October. “It’s regrettable,” Hinshaw said. “Fortunately he was never out of our custody. We’re still looking into various aspects to make sure we have dug into this as deeply as we can. Do we need to change policy? Was this an avoidable error? If discipline is appropriate, then we’ll take that action.”
Felton man arrested on 4th felony DUI
A check on a disabled vehicle on Route 1 north of Milton [DE] ended in the arrest of a Felton man on his 4th felony DUI charge. As State Police contacted 51 year old Ronnie Leslie, alcohol could be smelled on his breath and the trooper conducted a DUI investigation. Leslie was arrested and further investigation showed he was previously convicted of DUI three times. He is being held at SCI in default of bond.
Homicide by vehicle charge filed against drunken driver
GALLUP [AZ] — A man died Thursday as a result of injuries sustained when his pickup was struck by a drunken driver Wednesday. Scott Costley, 20, of Gallup, died Thursday afternoon, upping charges against 39-year-old Daryl Begay to include homicide by vehicle, a third-degree felony punishable by up to six years in prison. The statute adds four years to the sentence for each prior DWI conviction.
DUI law pits police vs. hospital procedure
State law says police officers can require suspected drunken drivers to submit to a blood test if they’re involved in a serious or fatal accident. But what, if any, obligation do hospitals have to carry out an officer’s request to draw a DUI suspect’s blood? That’s one of the questions raised by the arrest of an emergency room nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center during a dispute with a police officer over drawing blood from a suspected DUI driver. Charge nurse Lisa Hofstra, who sued the City of Chicago and the officer last month, said the officer, who was not fully named in the suit, requested that she perform a blood work-up on a woman suspected of driving under the influence. Hofstra said the officer handcuffed her and made her sit in a squad car for 45 minutes after she told him the hospital could not draw blood until the driver was admitted as a patient. A caller who identified himself as the officer told WLS-AM (890) last week that he waited more than three hours before the hospital would take blood from the driver to determine her blood-alcohol level.
Sergeant’s DUI charge frustrates MADD members
SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Police Sergeant Bradley Thoma’s arrest on a DUI charge has sent shock waves throughout the Inland Northwest and the arrest has upset none more than members of the organization ‘Mothers Against Drunk Driving.’ Thoma was arrested on the DUI charge after he rear-ended a woman near Newport Highway and Farwell Rd. Wednesday evening. The 51-year-old woman was not injured and she proceeded to follow Thoma to a nearby parking lot where Spokane County sheriff’s deputies took him in to custody. Thoma was cited for DUI and released. The incident has members of MADD and others in the area upset that a police officer made such a dangerous decision. “My 3-year-old son was killed by a 17 time repeat drunk driver,” said MADD member Linda Thompson.
Police: Nebraska Father, Son Arrested For DUI
Authorities say a 53-year-old Nebraska man whose son had been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving was arrested on the same charge after bailing out his son. The Nebraska State Patrol said Thursday that 19-year-old Trevor Brown of Gothenburg was arrested around 2 a.m. Saturday and taken to the county jail. Brown called his dad to come bail him out. The patrol says when Anthony Brown arrived at the jail a trooper noticed that the elder Brown seemed drunk and warned him not to drive. The patrol says a trooper then saw the Browns get into a pickup, the elder Brown behind the wheel. The trooper then arrested Anthony Brown and took him back to the jail. Attempts to find a telephone number to contact the Browns were unsuccessful Thursday.
Suspected DUI crash
A Calistoga [CA] man was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving Thursday following a crash on Highway 29. Laurencio Martinez, 22, was driving a 1991 Toyota Camry south on the highway north of Dunaweal at about 6:45 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. For unknown reasons, he lost control and ran the car off the road, the CHP said. It rolled onto its roof. Passenger Lucano Nazario, 22, suffered major injures, and a second passenger, Manuel Mari, 34, suffered moderate injures. Both were taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center. Later, Martinez was cleared medically and booked on suspicion of felony drunken driving and driving without a license at the Napa County Department of Corrections.
DUI Driver Slams Into Brooklyn Woman Walking Home from Work
A young Brooklyn woman is in critical condition after being slammed into by a van driven by a drunk driver while she was walking out of work Thursday night. 22-year-old Ukranian immigrant Olga Skibina suffered severe brain, facial and lung injuries after being struck by the van while walking from the medical office she works as a receptionist at in Sheepshead Bay, walking along Avenue Z to her home in Gerritsen Beach. Police have arrested 45-year-old Zachary Kitt of Coney Island, who they say blew a .25 at the scene of the accident. Kitt is being charged with vehicular assault, drunken driving and reckless driving. The News says that Kitt’s record shows convictions for drugs and driving without a license. They talk to Skibina’s stepfather who says, “It’s just impossible — how people can drive like that?”
Man arrested after fatal crash
A Lacey [WA] woman is dead and a Fort Lewis man was arrested after he crashed the motorcycle he was driving Friday in Yelm. James N. Vassaur, 31, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular homicide. The incident occurred about 1 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25 near First Street and Railway Road. When officers arrived at the crash scene, Vassaur was attempting CPR on his passenger Shanna K. Padley, 22, of Lacey, according to police reports. Life Flight was initially called, but Padley was pronounced dead at the scene. Yelm Police Chief Todd Stancil said the woman died as a result of massive head trauma. Police said they suspect that, during the accident, Padley was thrown off of the motorcycle and her head struck a post, rocks or both. Vassaur and Padley were wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Vassaur and Padley reportedly spent the evening at multiple businesses in downtown Yelm. Police said their final stop was a tavern on Yelm Avenue. Police said that Vassaur initially told them he swerved his motorcycle to avoid hitting an oncoming car. Subsequently, however, Vassaur invoked his right to remain silent and declined to comment further, Stancil said. Samples were taken of Vassaur’s blood alcohol level and police said they expect those results back in a couple weeks.
Man gets up to 25 years in deadly car crash
A West Liberty man was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for killing one woman and seriously injuring another in a car crash Sept. 21, 2008. Skylar Shane Vanhoang, 26, was sentenced Friday in Johnson County District Court. Assistant Johnson County Attorney Iris Frost said Vanhoang and friends had been drinking in Coralville before Vanhoang drove a vehicle onto Interstate 80, traveling westbound in an eastbound lane. The vehicle was hit head-on by a semitrailer. The front seat passenger in Vanhoang’s vehicle, 24-year-old Kelly Oseguera of West Liberty, was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman who was riding in the back seat of the car, Viengvilavan La Phanthouvong, was seriously injured, police said. Vanhoang’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was .268, more than three times the legal limit of .08 in Iowa, according to police.
Homicide charge in deadly wreck
A Gettysburg [PA] man “passed out” at the wheel while under the influence of drugs and alcohol before his vehicle struck and killed a Brownstown mother last month, police said. Christopher A. Rosati, 24, of 426 W. Middle St., is charged with homicide by vehicle, police say in court records filed Tuesday. Rosati’s vehicle swerved onto a Gettysburg sidewalk at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 13, striking and killing Patricia Pelliccione, 48, of 128 Chapel Lane. Three parked vehicles also were struck, police said. Rosati told police that he was driving south on Baltimore Street when he felt lightheaded and passed out. He awoke to screams at the accident scene, according to police. Rosati told police that over the course of the day he had consumed three beers, had taken various medications — Lexapro, Lorazepam and Vicodin — and had smoked marijuana, police said. A hospital blood test of Rosati came back positive for marijuana, opiates and benzodiazephines, police said. Pelliccione was taken to Gettysburg Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Pelliccione had three children, all teenagers. She and her husband, David, would have celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary Tuesday.
Woman pleads guilty to criminal vehicular homicide
Keisha Marie Van Pelt, 28, of Bemidji [MN], changed her plea, Sept. 22, to guilty to felony criminal vehicular homicide or operating a vehicle with negligence under the influence of alcohol. District Judge Paul Benshoof set her next court date will be Oct. 26. She was convicted in Beltrami District Court in connection with a crash that killed 3-year-old Valencia Marie Van Pelt, her niece. Van Pelt was driving a Mitsubishi Montero with Valencia in a booster seat the morning of Oct. 31 when she took a wrong turn from Anne Street onto Irvine Avenue, then executed a U-turn and headed back toward the city limits, according to the criminal complaint. At about 8:15 a.m., she lost control of the vehicle. It went into the ditch, hit an approach and vaulted 82 feet before landing on its roof in a pasture on the 4200 block of Irvine Avenue. Witnesses said Van Pelt had been driving at fluctuating speeds, frequently below the speed limit, before the vehicle gradually drifted into the northbound lane of travel and then into the ditch. Valencia, the daughter of Robert Van Pelt and Lynette Stone, died of injuries suffered in the crash. A Beltrami County Sheriff’s deputy located Van Pelt at North Country Regional Hospital, where she was being treated for her injuries. A sample of her blood was taken. Van Pelt told the deputy that she believed she had left the road after swerving to avoid hitting a group of cats, but none of the witnesses had seen anything in the roadway that would explain her driving off the road.
A year later, DUI death suspect is in college as victim asks: Why?
About 11 p.m. one night of September 2008, a Benjamin School senior in his Porsche Cayenne ploughed into two cars stopped at a traffic light in Palm Beach Gardens, at a speed that investigators estimated at 80 mph. A pizza delivery man was killed. Another motorist was seriously injured. The 17-year-old driver, Beruch Zegeye, the son of a prominent area neurosurgeon, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter and reckless driving. He was on his way home from a booze– and pill-fueled party with fellow Benjamin kids. Tests allegedly showed the alcohol level in his blood was triple the state’s 0.02 limit for drivers under 21.
Driver gets 5 years in DUI case
A woman convicted of drunken driving four times in three years and who was charged with a fifth DUI in June after hitting a police patrol car while driving drunk was sentenced Thursday. Sandra Dee Steiner, 43, was sentenced by Judge Susan Watters to seven years with the state Department of Corrections, with two years suspended, for felony criminal endangerment. Watters ordered Steiner to pay a $1,500 fine and pay the Billings Police Department $1,845 in restitution for damages to the patrol car. Watters imposed a 13-month concurrent sentence for felony DUI, and concurrent jail terms for misdemeanor convictions of being a habitual traffic offender and driving without insurance. Steiner told the judge before she was sentenced that she is an “extreme alcoholic” but not a violent person. Steiner said she had “never received treatment” for alcohol abuse, but Watters noted she had twice been ordered to complete a state alcohol treatment program. Watters also noted that Steiner’s blood alcohol level when she was arrested shortly before noon on June 22 was 0.258 percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving. The judge described Steiner as a danger to the community who put pedestrians and other drivers at risk.
Enid man is facing felony DUI charges
An Enid [OK] man is facing felony charges for allegedly driving under the influence two days after pleading to a similar charge in a southern Oklahoma county. Daniel Robert Mendoza, 23, was arraigned Thursday on charges of felony driving under the influence of alcohol subsequent offense and leaving the scene of an accident involving damage, a misdemeanor. The charges allege Mendoza was driving a 1998 Chevy Tahoe Sept. 16 in the 100 block of West Elm and struck a parked vehicle. Online court records show Mendoza pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol in Stephens County, receiving a one-year suspended sentence.
Man Pleads No Contest to DUI Deaths
WAYNE COUNTY [WV] — Bobby Fraizer pleaded no contest to all six counts he faces in a Wayne County Court on Friday. He is charged with four counts of DUI resulting in death, one count of 3rd offense DUI and one count of 3rd offense driving under a suspended license. Reno Hardwick, John Michael Boone and his two children Michael Tyler and Jordan all died in the April 2008 accident in Wayne County. Frazier faces 6 to 26 years in prison.
Probate Judge Charged With DUI
CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. — A probate judge in Cherokee County is charged with driving under the influence. South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Bryan McDougald said that at about 2:20 a.m. Friday, a trooper stopped a vehicle on West Rutledge Road in Gaffney for a traffic violation. Following the traffic stop, 31-year-old Joshua Queen was charged with DUI. He was not charged with any other violations. There was no immediate word from the governor’s office as to how or if the arrest will affect Queen’s status as a judge.
Bedford sentenced in Great Falls for vehicular homicide
It was a dramatic afternoon in a Great Falls [MT] courtroom as Debbie Sue Bedford was sentenced for vehicular homicide on Thursday. In November 2008, Bedford was driving the car that struck the pick-up truck that Boyd Putnam was riding in. Putnam died as a result of his injuries, and Debbie Sue Bedford was charged with vehicular homicide. Police say she was under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs. Bedford pled guilty and received 15 years with the Department of Corrections with five years suspended. The victim’s brother, Robin, made an emotional statement during the hearing: “Four miles outside of Vaughan.…fifteen miles from home, two decisions that Debbie Sue Bedford made that day changed our lives forever. Miss Bedford made the decision to drink, take drugs, and drive her vehicle, (and) because she was terribly intoxicated she crossed the line and smashed into the car that I was driving…my brother was due to work at the post office that night (and) was sleeping in the back seat. The force of the impact was so great it tore the aorta from his heart, he bled from internal injuries and passes away in the hospital that evening.”
Goodwin gets 20 years for role in fatal crash
A 22-year-old Sallisaw [OK] man was sentenced to 20 years Wednesday afternoon, following his conviction for first-degree manslaughter. Jacob Wayne Goodwin’s face was blank as District Judge Mike Norman handed down the sentence. The jury panel also found Goodwin guilty of possession of a stolen vehicle, DUI, and possession of alcohol by a person under 21. Jurors recommended a 20-year term on the manslaughter conviction. Year-long sentences were recommended on the possession of stolen vehicle and DUI charges. The jury also asked for fines totaling $5,000. “I am going to uphold the jury’s recommendation,” Norman said. Gasps were heard in the courtroom, as members of Goodwin’s support group registered their shock. Goodwin was seriously injured in the Feb. 2, 2007, crash that killed Jorge Espinoza Ayala. Goodwin will do 85 percent of the 20-year sentence with the second and third counts to run concurrently.
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