Showing posts with label drunk driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drunk driving. Show all posts

Monday, February 18, 2019

19 year old female soldier killed while deployed to border

Active Duty Soldier Killed By Suspected Drunk Driver


KURV 710 News Talk
By JSALINAS
February 17, 2019

A Valley man has been charged in the suspected drunk driving death of a U.S. Army soldier. 25-year-old Edward Leo Magallan was brought before a judge Saturday, charged with intoxication manslaughter, and ordered jailed on a $150,000 bond.

Magallan is accused of plowing into a Ford Mustang and running over 19-year-old Cassandra Julianne Perez. Perez was standing next to her car which had stalled on the southbound frontage road of I-69C at around 1 a.m. Friday. 

Perez was part of a squad of active duty soldiers assigned to the border.
read more here

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Ex-POW, Disabled Vietnam Veteran hit by drunk driver

Local vet struck by ice cream truck: 'I'm glad it was me that got hit and not kids'
NBC 3 News Las Vegas
by Kelsey Thomas
August 14th 2018
The former prisoner of war was heading home to Veterans Village on Wednesday when police say he was hit by a drunk driver who was behind the wheel of an ice cream truck.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A disabled Vietnam veteran is recovering after he was hit on the sidewalk by an out-of-control driver.

Police say Nasario Garcia was drunk behind the wheel of an ice cream truck when he hit Steven Whitefeather.

Officers say they found empty beer bottles in a freezer in the back of the truck.

The crash happened last week on Fremont near Eastern in downtown Las Vegas. Officers say Garcia jumped a curb and hit Whitefeather, who was in a motorized wheelchair on the sidewalk.
read more here

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Four Tour Iraq Veteran Killed By "Allegedly" Drunk Driver

Sister-in-law of veteran killed in wreck: 'He was a hero and his loss is deep'
KLTV New
By Francesca Washington
Posted: Dec 09, 2014
TYLER, TX

On Sunday night, 30-year old Jerry Howell was killed when his car was struck by a pickup truck on Highway 31, near Kilgore. His wife, Wendy was his passenger, and is still in a Tyler ICU.

"They were just dropping the kids off and heading home when it happened," said Mindy Benson, Jerry's sister-in-law.

Mindy Benson says her sister and brother-in-law, Wendy and Jerry Howell, spent Sunday afternoon among family, taking new family photos.

Later that night, their car was struck by Adam Hotaling, who was allegedly drunk behind the wheel. Hotaling, a Shreveport resident, is in the Smith County Jail, charged with intoxication manslaughter.

"If you're going to drink, stay where you are at, call a friend, call somebody. Don't get on the road. Because he walked away and they didn't, "Benson said. "I know that he never intended to have an accident when he set out. But that choice has impacted this family. It has taken away a father, a husband, a brother, an uncle, a son and a friend."

Benson says Jerry was in the U.S. Army for 17 years. He served four tours in Iraq and was awarded a Purple Heart in 2004.
read more here
KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Someone is waiting for you to come home

We all get it. A lot of veterans drink. Sometimes you drink too much. This is something to think about the next time that happens. Someone loves you and will be waiting for you to come home. Make sure you don't let your buddy down.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Sgt. Major Survived 9 Tours, Lost Legs to Drunk Driver

After 9 deployments, sgt. maj. loses legs to drunken driver
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Staff report
May 4, 2014
Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Bruns demonstrates improvement in this June 2013 photo as he pushes his wife, Jenny, in his wheelchair. (Courtesy Bruns family)
Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Bruns survived nine deployments only to lose both legs to a drunken driver who plowed into him outside his home on a Saturday morning in 2012.

On April 9, Bruns and his wife got some measure of justice in a North Carolina courtroom when the driver, Rhonda Sutton Bryant, was sentenced to 16 to 29 months.

Bryant, who was reportedly drunk and high behind the wheel and has since pleaded guilty, told Bruns in court she wished she could take his place. Bryant was at the time of the accident a 47-year-old Army spouse.

“Mr. Bruns, I sincerely offer you my apologies from the depths of my heart,” Bryant said through tears, according to local WTVD TV News. “I’m sorry for everything you and your family have been enduring since that dreadful day.”
read more here

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fort Bragg soldier became double amputee because of drunk driver

Fort Bragg soldier, double-leg amputee, recovers after being injured by alleged drunken driver
WTVD News
Nicole Carr
February 25, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has been home to Army Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Bruns and his wife Jenny since late 2012.

Each day, Bruns takes one more step. He learns one more lesson, and he's inspired by his fellow servicemen and women recovering from injuries sustained on the battlefield.

Bruns, a Special Operations soldier out of Fort Bragg, has been deployed nine times, including multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's very tough to learn how to walk again," Bruns said during a February workout in Walter Reed's Military Advanced Training Center. "Something you take for granted after mastering it 40 years ago, and then you start all over."

But the 42-year-old double leg amputee and partial hand amputee's injuries are not a result of war.

They're a result of a drunk driver.


On Nov. 10, 2012 the Fort Bragg soldier was attaching his kayak to the back of his pickup truck in front of his Calamar Drive home in Fayetteville. Around 10 a.m., his neighbor Rhonda Renee Sutton Bryant would come speeding down the residential street at 45 miles per hour, on the wrong side of the road. Bruns was pinned between Bryant's hood and his bumper for nearly an hour.

"She didn't stop when she hit me," Bruns recalled.
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Monday, December 16, 2013

East TN soldier victim of hit and run by fellow soldier

East TN soldier victim of hit and run by fellow soldier
WBIR, WSMV
December 16, 2013

CLARKSVILLE, TN (WSMV/WBIR) - An East Tennessee soldier passed away Saturday after authorities said a fellow soldier struck and killed him with a car while walking on a road in Middle Tennessee.

Authorities said Capt. David Elliott struck and killed 21-year-old Pfc. Austin McReynolds with a car on Tylertown Road in Clarksville, Tenn. Clarksville Police Department said Elliott then fled the scene. The hit-and-run occurred between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m. Saturday.

Capt. David Elliott, 26, was arrested Saturday night and charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence (2nd offense), driving on a suspended license, and immediate notice of accident.
read more here

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Warrior Transition Unit Soldier thanks guard for recovery

Warrior Transition Unit Soldier thanks guard for recovery
Waynesville Daily Guide
October 25, 2013

For one Soldier with more than 27 years in the Missouri National Guard and a deployment under his belt, the seemingly simple act of taking a few steps was his greatest accomplishment of the year.

Master Sgt. Tommy Collum, safety non-commissioned officer and truck driver for the Missouri National Guard, was the victim of a violent drunk driving accident on Jan. 22. His road to recover has been long, but surprisingly rewarding.

"I think it took this accident to show me how many people really do care about me and my Family," Collum said. "The people in the Missouri National Guard have taken such good care of me, I believe I am in the best place I can be, for now."

Collum and his wife, Bobbi, credit the Missouri National Guard for much of the amazing progress he has made in recovering from incapacitating traumatic brain injury.

"The staff at the hospital and rehabilitation clinic were surprised at the number of Soldiers who visited Tommy," said Bobbi. "Whenever they saw a uniform, they knew he had another visitor."
read more here

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Marine killed in motorcycle accident

Father grieves loss of Marine son allegedly killed by drunken driver in Texas
March 12, 2013
The News Herald
By Jackie Harrison-Martin

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS — When representatives of the U.S. Marine Corps knocked on Don Di Pietro’s door in Wyandotte early Sunday morning, he relived a nightmare.

The first time that happened, he was told his brother, Robert, a 24-year-old Army specialist, had been killed in Vietnam.

This time, he was told that his son, who had been rising through the ranks as a Marine stationed in Texas had been killed.

Donald Di Pietro, 24, a 2002 Lincoln Park High School graduate, died at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday after the motorcycle he was driving crashed with a pickup truck.
read more here

Monday, February 11, 2013

Fort Bliss soldier died in third traffic fatality of the year

Fort Bliss soldier dies in traffic accident on I-10 in Central El Paso
By David Burge
El Paso Times
Posted:02/10/2013
The driver, who was not seriously injured, is also a soldier
A Fort Bliss soldier was killed in a two-vehicle crash along Interstate 10 West at Paisano Saturday night, a Fort Bliss spokesman said.

A 2001 Ford F-150 truck was traveling west along Interstate 10 and attempted to exit at the Paisano off-ramp when it hit the driver's side of a westbound 1997 Ford Ranger, El Paso police report.
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Thursday, June 14, 2012

3 Camp Pendleton Marines killed another charged with vehicular manslaughter

Camp Pendleton Marine charged in the deaths of 3 colleagues
June 13, 2012

A 25-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton was charged Wednesday with drunk driving in an Orange County crash that left three fellow Marines dead.

Jared Ray Hale, 25, faces three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, with sentencing enhancement allegations for having a blood alcohol level of more than 0.15% and causing great bodily injury.

Two Marines, 23-year-old Jeremiah Callahan of Nebraska and 21-year-old Christopher Arzola of Massachusetts, were pronounced dead at the scene.
read more here

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Veteran and Englewood Police Officer killed by hit and run driver

Hit-and-run kills officer
May 30, 2012.
Tom Munds

Englewood Police Officer Jeremy Bitner died from injuries he received when he was hit by an alleged drunk driver in the early-morning hours of Memorial Day.

Englewood Police Chief John Collins’ voice reflected the depth of his feelings at a May 29 press conference where he announced Bitner’s death. He said Bitner had died the day earlier – the same day as the crash – but the announcement was delayed at the request of the family and so Bitner’s desire to be an organ donor could be honored
Bitner served a tour in the Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Infantry and served a tour in Bosnia. He became a law enforcement officer and was a deputy with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office before being hired by Englewood in December 2004. In his time as an Englewood police officer, Bitner served as a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics team, was a field training officer for newly hired officers and was an instructor in the Citizen’s Academy.

read more here

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Iraq veteran pleads no contest to crash that killed 3 University of Minnesota students

Plea in Wis. crash that killed 3 Minn. Students
August 19, 2011

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An Iraq veteran pleaded no contest this week to charges that he drove drunk down a Wisconsin interstate and slammed into a disabled vehicle, killing three University of Minnesota students.

Bradley Erickson, 32, entered the plea Thursday to three counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and one charge of operating while intoxicated causing injury.

The Associated Press left a message with Erickson's attorney seeking comment Friday.

The crash occurred Oct. 7 in the town of Burke, after the victims' car had pulled over with a flat tire.
The vehicle slammed into the disabled car, killing Marcus Johnson, 20, of Milwaukee; Elysia Rapp, 20, of Racine; and Wilfredo Ugarte, 23, of Puerto Rico. Johnson and Ugarte were members of the University of Minnesota's cheerleading squad.
read more here

Friday, August 19, 2011

PTSD on trail:Iraq, Marine veteran convicted of 3 drunk driving deaths

Madison man convicted in 3 drunk driving deaths on interstate
ED TRELEVEN

A Madison man was convicted Thursday of the drunken driving homicide deaths of three people whose disabled car he crashed into on an interstate highway shoulder in October.

Bradley R. Erickson, 32, pleaded no contest to three counts of homicide by drunken driving and one count of causing injury while driving drunk, all for an Oct. 7 crash in the town of Burke that killed Marcus Johnson, 19, of Milwaukee; Elysia Rapp, 20, of Racine; and Wilfredo Ugarte, 23, of Puerto Rico.

Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese revoked Erickson’s $30,000 bail and ordered him jailed until he is sentenced in about two months.

Erickson’s lawyer, John Hyland, said Erickson has performed well on bail monitoring and has been getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder for his 2004 combat service with the Marines in Iraq.

In a memorandum to the court, Hyland wrote that one of Erickson’s PTSD symptoms is hyper-vigilance, an inability to cope with different surroundings without feeling a sense of danger.

“Brad experienced this whenever he stayed in unfamiliar spaces such as hotel rooms,” Hyland wrote.

“It was the reason he was driving home the night of the crash. He was compelled to go to a place where he felt safe.”

read more here

Friday, October 29, 2010

NC Marine commander relieved of duty

NC Marine commander relieved of duty
Charged with drunk driving on Monday

Updated: Thursday, 28 Oct 2010, 11:14 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 28 Oct 2010, 10:00 AM EDT

NC Marine commander relieved of duty
MCAS CHERRY POINT, N.C. (AP) - The colonel in charge of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point has been removed from his command after he was charged with speeding and drunken driving earlier in the week, a Marine Corps spokesman said Thursday.

Col. Douglas Denn was removed by order of Maj. Gen. Carl Jensen "due to loss of confidence in Denn's ability to command," said Maj. Bradley Gordon, spokesman for the Marine Corps Installations East located at Camp LeJeune in Jacksonville.

"The relief occurred as a result of an investigation into allegations of Denn driving under the influence that eroded good order and discipline," Gordon said.

Jensen is in charge of Marine Corps Installations East, which covers six Marine Corps bases in the mid-Atlantic region.

Col. Robert Clinton, the executive officer at Cherry Point, has assumed command, Gordon said. Clinton is a CH-46E helicopter pilot and graduate of the Naval War College, Gordon said.
read more here
NC Marine commander relieved of duty

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Family, Friends React After Triple-Fatal Interstate Crash

Forgiveness can happen when people stop being angry or hurt long enough to take a look at the whole subject.  A young man is accused of getting behind the wheel and driving drunk.  Families are now trying to cope with the loss and the anger caused by this crash. 

It is normal and expected to react the way they are but this damages them, robs them of grieving worthy of the lives gone.  While they could be sharing memories and beginning their healing, they are trapped spending their energy hanging onto the anger.  We can all understand how they feel the way they do but few of us have ever had to feel it for ourselves.

Losing someone you love is hard enough under natural circumstances.  When another human is the cause, it is almost unbearable.  Yet in this case, this driver was not just some drunk behind the wheel.  He is unique among the population.  He has PTSD which is caused only one way.  It took a traumatic event in his own life to cause it.  He was not thinking right by reports and used alcohol to help him cope with the symptoms.  There has to be justice because everyone with PTSD does not decide to drive drunk, so this was something he decided to do.  Justice requires all the facts to be considered but for the families, knowing all the facts may help them begin to heal.


Friends: Fatal Crash Suspect Treated For PTSD

Family, Friends React After Triple-Fatal Interstate Crash

Updated: 8:47 am CDT October 9, 2010
Text Size
While more is being learned about the man behind the wheel in a triple fatality early Thursday morning, the mother of one of the victims is speaking out.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/25332673/detail.html

Previous Story:

Friday, August 13, 2010

Father of Marine killed on motorcycle was hit by drunk driver on his motorcycle too

Friends, family share stories of hometown hero
Marine from Rosenberg allegedly killed by drunken driver
By SHAMINDER DULAI
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 12, 2010

Rain clouds blanketed the sun to trickle out a smattering of rain drops Thursday afternoon as Dwayne Stidman carried the ashes of his son out of a Rosenberg funeral home and toward a row of motorcycles.

"Today is a time of saying goodbye," Stidman said.

With military hymns in the air and a slideshow of his son behind him, Stidman stood up to thank the nearly 100 friends, family, Marines and complete strangers as they paid their respects to Marine Cpl. David James Stidman, who was killed last week when an alleged drunken driver struck his motorcycle.

Guests wearing red, the 23-year-old's favorite color, made an effort to turn the funeral into a joyful day of sharing memories to honor the son who survived two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, and recently finished a five-year commitment to the Marines.




Affinity for motorcycles
But there was sorrow.

One by one, Marines and friends stood up to share stories about one of Rosenberg's hometown heroes. He had built a gym out of found wood because he was bored, had coached his fellow soldiers to get up to speed and had shared stories from home of how much he loved his father.

Like his father, David Stidman became a Marine and a motorcyclist. The two also shared an affinity for fishing, so much so that they'd bought a boat. They were still planning their first trip to the open sea when the son was killed. Dwayne Stidman plans to take his son's ashes to the Gulf of Mexico.

The young Marine came home four months ago after a drunken driver hit his father, who was on his motorcycle. He broke his legs, a shoulder blade and his skull was severely cut.

Dwayne Stidman slowly recovered with the help of his son and soon bought another motorcycle so the two could continue riding together.

"I know how it can get and I didn't want him riding alone," Dwayne Stidman said
go here for more

Friends family share stories of hometown hero


Marine survived three tours of combat

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

McConnell widows speak of relatives killed in St. Petersburg crash

McConnell widows speak of relatives killed in St. Petersburg crash
'These men were wonderful beautiful people.'



Anais McConnell, Amy McConnell and Sandie McConnell stand together Tuesday, August 3, in Amy's front yard. (RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL)



By Bianca Prieto, Susan Jacobson and Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel

12:27 p.m. EDT, August 3, 2010

Lisa Raybern let out a loud sob that conveyed the heartbreak of a mother who has lost her children.

On Sunday a suspected drunken driver ran a red light in St. Petersburg and plowed into the car driven by her ex-husband, Elroy "Roy" McConnell, killing him and his three sons instantly.

"All these men were wonderful, beautiful people," Raybern said while holding her 4-month-old grandson, Elroy "Roy" McConnell IV.

Raybern was among a large group of friends and family, including the three widows and girlfriend of the dead men, who gathered at the McConnell family home in east Orange County this morning.

Roy McConnell, 51, sons Nathan, 24, and Kelly, 19, both of Orlando; and Elroy "Roy" McConnell III, 28, of Pineville, La., were killed after a speeding car crashed into their Ford Fusion while the McConnell clan was on a beach vacation on the Gulf Coast, police said.


Family members said they were grieving, but not vengeful, and that is the message they wanted to impart today.

"This drunk driver didn't just steal [Roy McConnell's] life from him, but from his friends and family," family member Rebecca Watson said in a tearful speech. "I hope and pray that the next time you go drinking and driving, you stop to think about this tragedy."
read more here
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-four-dead-st-pete-family-20100803,0,4723160.story

Monday, August 2, 2010

Oviedo church devastated with loss of father and three sons



From left, Nathan McConnell, Roy McConnell, Kelly McConnell and Roy McConnell III (Facebook)


"He was not a Christian when he started coming to church," said MacLaren. "He sat in the back and he folded his arms. Yet he ended up being one of our most passionate people in the church, about ministry and Jesus." University Carillon United Methodist Church in Oviedo


Police: Orlando man, three sons killed by drunken driver who ran red light
By Susan Jacobson, Sara K. Clarke and Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel

10:11 p.m. EDT, August 1, 2010
Four members of an Orlando family on a beach vacation were killed early Sunday morning when a drunken driver ran a red light and slammed into their car in St. Petersburg, police said.

Elroy "Roy" McConnell, 51, an accountant and triathlete, was at the wheel of a Ford Fusion about 12:45 a.m. when a speeding southbound Chevrolet Impala ran the light on Dr. Martin Luther King Street North at 22nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg police said.

McConnell, 51, and his sons, Elroy "Roy" McConnell III, 28, of Pineville, La.; Nathan McConnell, 24, of Orlando; and Kelly McConnell, 19, of Orlando were pronounced dead at the scene. The collision propelled their car into a large support beam for a sign.

The driver of the Impala, Demetrius D. Jordan, 20, was arrested on four counts of DUI manslaughter, along with DUI causing serious bodily injury and possession of alcohol by a minor. Jordan and a passenger in his car, Mario D. Robinson, 20, were taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with serious injuries.
read more here
Orlando man three sons killed by drunken driver

Monday, July 19, 2010

Marine suspected of drunk driving in fatal accident

Marine suspected of drunk driving crashes in Reseda, killing woman and seriously injuring her grandson, 5
July 18, 2010 12:39 pm
A 51-year-old woman was killed early Sunday in Reseda and her 5-year-old grandson was in serious condition after a 23-year-old Marine suspected of drunk driving crashed his SUV into their car, police said.

Chandrika De Silva, her husband and their grandson were inside a black Toyota Prius that pulled up to a residence on Strathern Street, just west of Wilbur Avenue about 2 a.m., Los Angeles Police Officer Mary Brady said. De Silva’s husband, the driver, went to unlock the gated driveway of a residence while De Silva got out of the car to tend to her grandson.
read more here
Marine suspected of drunk driving crashes in Reseda