Man rams funeral procession after wife killed

Man rams funeral procession after wife killed

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. -- A Surry County man is facing charges due to his reaction after his wife was killed and son injured in an accident.

Sheriff Graham Atkinson says the accident happened Wednesday afternoon on Quaker Road in Mount Airy.

According to Atkinson, 28-year-old Laura Seal ran her car into a fire truck that was taking part in a funeral procession. She died instantly.

Seal’s son, 3-year-old Levi Willard, was ejected from the vehicle and is now in fair condition at Baptist Hospital.

Atkinson says Mitchell Willard heard about the accident involving his family and went to the scene. Officers say he then intentionally rammed some of the cars involved in the procession.

Willard later turned himself into authorities and is facing charges for assault with a deadly weapon.

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Man gets 8 years in DWI crash killing unborn child

Man gets 8 years in DWI crash killing unborn child

WACO — A man was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for a drunken driving accident that killed his unborn child and another driver.

Jurors deliberated about five hours before deciding on the penalty for Mark Allen Brown, 22, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to two counts each of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in the crash two years ago.

Jurors also sentenced him to probation to be served after he is released: five years for his unborn son’s death, five years for his girlfriend’s injuries and 10 years for the intoxication assault charge involving injuries to a passenger in the other car. Brown also was fined $5,000.

Because his vehicle was considered a deadly weapon, he must serve at least four years before he is eligible for parole. He faced up to 20 years in prison.

Brown testified that after he got home from his all-night shift at a grocery store and drank a couple of beers, his girlfriend — who was seven months’ pregnant — complained of abdominal pains. He told jurors he did not believe he was too drunk to drive her to the hospital.

His blood-alcohol level later was found to be .09, just above the state’s legal limit of .08, according to testimony.

Brown said the wet road caused his car to hydroplane and collide with another car, killing Jesse Franklin, 81, of Hillsboro, and injuring Franklin’s wife.

Three troopers testified that Brown said they were on their way to a shopping mall.

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Panayiota Demetriou's family demands (DWI)

Panayiota Demetriou's family demands alleged DWI driver Daryush Omar get max for taking her life

Panayiota Demetriou with her mother and brother Kyriacos. The Pace University psych student was killed Nov. 16.

A grieving father has made a long, sad journey halfway around the world to honor his daughter's memory and demand punishment for the accused drunken driver who killed her.

Demetris Demetriou flew from Cyprus to New York to meet with prosecutors Friday - two days before he proudly collects the doctorate daughter Panayiota Demetriou earned from Pace University.

"She was destined for greater things," the 53-year-old dad told the Daily News in an exclusive interview.

"I have nothing against God, I believe she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't believe it was her fate or destiny to die there. Her life was taken by somebody who was irresponsible.

"Sure, life goes on, but life will never, ever be the same. Our life has been blackened forever. She was the shining star of our house."

Panayiota, 30, was hailed as a brilliant student. She was returning home after celebrating the completion of her doctoral dissertation when she was killed Nov. 16.

Police say Daryush Omar was drunk when he slammed his car into her livery cab, killing both her and driver Bessy Velasquez.

Omar, who had a suspended license, is also suspected of fatally beating and robbing banker Thomas Whitney Jr. outside a Manhattan club in 2006.

The murder prosecution stalled and Omar couldn't be deported because neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan - the countries to which he has ties - would take him.

Demetris Demetriou - who came to New York with sons Andreas, 26, and Kyriacos, 22 - wants to make sure Omar doesn't slip through any more loopholes.

The family is to meet with representatives of the Queens district attorney's office to press the issue, said their lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.

"This family wants the maximum criminal punishment to set an example so no other family will have to suffer such a horrible tragedy," Rubenstein said.

On Sunday, the three men will receive Panayiota Demetriou's bound psychology dissertation and doctorate diploma from Pace University at a ceremony that is bound to emotional.

A group of her classmates defended her dissertation before a school panel to ensure her posthumous appointment as a Ph.D. in psychology.

Panayiota Demetriou had just finished the paper on the night of her death and went out to celebrate with best friend Eleni Toumarides.

"I feel very lucky to have lived her last moments with her, knowing how happy she was," said Toumarides, who was dropped in Astoria minutes before the accident.

Panayiota Demetriou is buried in her homeland - in a plot her father bought several years ago for himself, next to his own father.

"Little did I know it would be one of my children buried there," he said.

An auditorium at her high school in Cyprus has been named in Demetriou's honor, and the family is setting up a foundation.

"Our goal is to keep her memory alive because my sister didn't live long enough to achieve her dreams," said Kyriacos Demetriou.

Andreas Demetriou has done that with words he had tattooed on his torso:

"So suddenly you left and slipped away. Taken by angels. Why couldn't you stay? Was it to be? Was it your fate? In my life you sparkled so bright. My sister in heaven. Again we'll meet.

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Schenectady officer charged with DWI

Schenectady officer charged with DWI

COLONIE, N.Y. -- Marked by the gash on his head, Schenectady Police Officer Michael Brown stood outside Colonie Town Court waiting to face charges of DWI and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. 

Colonie police said Brown was driving drunk Sunday night when he hit a stopped car, injuring a person in that car, at the intersection of Route 9 and Osborne Road. They said Brown took off but was found stopped just down the road where he refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton said, "You would think that someone who is a police officer would at least have enough common sense to not let him or herself get into that situation."

Stratton has seen his fair share of these situations lately. In late December, Assistant Chief Michael Seber was involved in a car accident with allegations of driving under the influence of alcohol swirling. But since the quality of the police report was so poor, police couldn't prove anything. That led to three members of the department facing disciplinary action. Then in mid-January, Officer John Lewis was arrested for the third time in two months after a fight with his brother. He had already been arrested for DWI and aggravated harassment. After the DWI, he was suspended without pay for 30 days. Then last month, the highest paid officer on the force, Dwayne Johnson, who earned nearly $170,000 was suspended without pay while the department investigates his abuse of overtime. 

"It seems that with every week that goes by, there's something new," said Mayor Stratton. "But I can assure you that with every step and with every step backward, we are seizing the opportunity to clear these officers out of the department."

So Stratton says he's given the police chief and Commissioner Wayne Bennett the green light to consider all forms of discipline, including firing Officer Brown, in hopes of sending a strong message that the department will not tolerate police officers breaking the law. It's a message Bennett agrees with because he says most of the force is sick of being embarrassed. 

"Everybody's looking at them in the same negative light, and that's simply not fair to them," said Bennett. "They're tired of it. We're tired of it. We're going to impose some harsh disciplinary action where the circumstances warranted it."

We'll have to wait and see what happens to Brown as the case and investigation unfold. Right now, he's suspended for 30 days without pay, which Mayor Stratton points out, puts an added burden on other officers who have to work overtime to pick up the slack and on the taxpayers who have to pay for it. 

We'll have to wait and see what happens to Brown as the case and investigation unfold. 

Right now he's suspended for 30 days without pay, which Mayor Stratton points out, puts an added burden on other officers who have to work overtime to pick up his slack and on the taxpayers who have to pay for it.

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DWI charges upgraded

Man involved in crash that killed three had long history of citations

A man involved in a January crash that killed three people now faces upgraded charges in a previous DWI case, after prosecutors admitted that he was charged with first offense DWI three times because of legal oversights.

The criminal background of Todd C. Vincent, 39, of Erath, came to light in January after the St. Mary Parish wreck that killed 40-year-old Priscilla Williams, her 15-year-old daughter Kadijah Williams and 41-year-old brother Leroy Williams, all of Franklin.

The crash happened on La. 318 after Vincent allegedly drove his 2004 Ford truck into the direct path of Priscilla Williams' vehicle and hit it head on.

Vincent, who has an extensive traffic violation history, faces charges of driving left of center and operating a vehicle with an invalid driver's license in the crash, but could face more - including vehicular homicide charges - if drugs or alcohol are shown to be involved. State police are still waiting for test results in the case.

At the time of the January crash, Vincent's license was suspended for 180 days - until May 14 - for another head-on collision on Nov. 15, after which he refused to take a drug test.

Vincent was arrested in November on one count of DWI first offense, driving left of center and no driver's license in possession. Even though the Nov. 15 incident was the third time Vincent had faced a DWI charge, prosecutors district attorneys handling the case only filed charges against him for a first offense.

Before this incident, Vincent was charged with DWI first offense and careless operation for a July 9 incident and had a DWI dating back to 2006, as well.

While the Nov. 15 case has worked its way through the courts with Vincent pleading no contest and being sentenced to six months probation, the July 9 charges have not been disposed, and an arraignment date is set for March 24.

In January, District Attorney Mike Harson said Vincent's Nov. 15 first offense DWI charge would be upgraded, but since Vincent had already pleaded, prosecutors amended the July 2008 charge instead.

Last month, Assistant District Attorney Aimee Hebert, who has handled all of Vincent's traffic violations, filed an amendment to the bill of information regarding the July 9 incident and upgraded the DWI first offense charge to DWI second offense.

"On or about the 9th day of July 2008, Todd C. Vincent did willfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle upon La. Highway 685, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, while intoxicated; and on or about the 15th day of November, 2008, did willfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated and was convicted of said charge on the 9th day of December, 2008," the amended bill of information states.

On Nov. 15, a Vermilion Parish sheriff's deputy wrote on a DWI report that after reading Vincent his Miranda rights, Vincent "then asked if he was going to get another DWI."

The same report said he admitted to taking Oxycontin tablets and smoking marijuana hours before that crash.

Harson, who acknowledges that he is acquaintances with Vincent's father, said a mistake led to the dismissal of the first of three DWI charges Vincent received.

Vincent got his first DWI arrest in June 2006, but prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges on July 7, 2007.

Somewhere along the line, Harson said the instructions were misconstrued causing the charges to be dismissed.

"I'm going to acknowledge the matter was dismissed, and it was done in error," Harson said.

By the time Vincent received a second DWI charge on July 9, 2008, Harson said the two-year deadline to file the initial charge again had passed, which caused the July 2008 charge to be classified as a first offense.

A second DWI offense carries a minimum penalty of 30 days to six months in jail, according to state law.

In more legal troubles for Vincent, there was a bench warrant issued for him for failure to appear at a Feb. 19 status conference to monitor his progress on his recent court sentence for the Nov. 15 incident.

It is unknown if Vincent has resolved the bench warrant.

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Three Injured in LI Crash, Driver Charged with DWI

Three Injured in LI Crash, Driver Charged with DWI

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Three people have been injured in a car accident on Long Island and the driver has been charged with DWI, police say.

Suffolk police say Vito Coppola, 22, from Syosset, (pictured right) was driving a 2008 Toyota SUV on Woodbury Road in Cold Spring Harbor when he lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree.

Also in the car were twin brothers Chad Sinito and Jarret Sinito, both 28, from New Hyde Park and Brandon Rappaport, 22 of Hicksville. Chad Sinito suffered head injuries and was listed in critical condition at Huntington Hospital. His brother Jarret, was treated for a broken arm and Rappaport for head injuries.

Police say the accident happened just after 3 a.m. Sunday. Coppola, who sustained minor injuries, was charged with "Driving While Intoxicated" and is due in court Monday.

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MADD wants ignition interlocks for DWI offenders

MADD wants ignition interlocks for DWI offenders

Jony Ventura and his 4-year-old daughter, Gabriela, were killed by a Houston woman with a prior drunken-driving conviction who was reportedly driving the wrong way on Texas 249 and struck their car.

Nicholas Hernandez — a convicted drunken driver himself — was killed on the Gulf Freeway when he was thrown from a car driven by a Pasadena man who had also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated last year and whose driver’s license had just been reinstated.

At the time of his death, Hernandez was awaiting trial on a felony murder charge for killing James Casey Kelleher and Suzanne Penland while driving drunk on Texas 288, prosecutors said.

These fatal crashes involving repeat offenders are examples of why Mothers Against Drunk Driving is again pushing Texas legislators to require ignition interlocks for people convicted of their first driving while intoxicated offense.

The ignition interlock device tests a driver’s breath to confirm he or she hasn’t been drinking before the car will start. 

“We really want to see this on first-time offenders in order to prohibit the third or fourth time down the road,” said Hope Rangel of Humble, executive director for MADD’s Southeast Texas region.

Proposed legislation, including bills filed by state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and state Rep. Bill Callegari, R-Katy, calls for the interlock to be installed for offenders convicted of their first DWI who are placed on probation.

Two similar measures filed in the last legislative session in 2007 died in committee.

Condition of probation

Current Texas law requires interlocks as a condition of probation only for repeat offenders or those with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 in any alcohol-related driving offense.

The device also is required for those released on bail while awaiting trial if they are charged with repeat DWI offenses or if they hurt or kill someone while driving drunk.

Although the proposed legislation is encouraging, Rangel said, many convicted drunken drivers in Harris County are opting for jail time instead of probation. If an offender chooses to go to jail, no interlock is installed. 

Drunken drivers put on probation have to pay for the device — which can average about $150 a month — so they might find jail more appealing, she said.

Callegari said he intends to revise his bill to require interlocks also for the first-time DWI convicts who choose jail over probation.

Idania Sagastisado, the 26-year-old woman accused of killing Ventura and his young daughter, spent 10 days in jail after she pleaded guilty to her first DWI in 2005.

After she drove the wrong way on Texas 249 and struck the Ventura family’s car Feb. 21, tests revealed Sagastisado’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit, said Harris County sheriff’s Sgt. Susan Cotter. Sagastisado remains in jail on bail totaling $60,000.

Hernandez, 25, of Pasadena, who died Feb. 13, also did jail time when he was convicted of his second DWI in 2003 and was sentenced to 50 days behind bars. Prosecutors said his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.30, nearly four times the legal limit, when he killed Kelleher and Penland last summer.

“If the interlock law was already in place, we would not have seen repeat offenders with any of these,” Rangel said of the recent fatalities.

Devices get sophisticated

Sometimes, Harris County judges or prosecutors will order a first-time offender to install an interlock as a condition of bail or probation, but the law does not require it.

Interlock devices have become increasingly more sophisticated and harder to beat. Some have voice-recognition capability and require drivers to hum while they blow into the device.

Courts today are more often turning to interlocks with video cameras, so the person blowing into the device is captured on film, said Harris County prosecutor Warren Diepraam.

The devices also require a driver to do “rolling tests” — to pull over every few minutes and blow again — to keep the car operating.

Research suggests lawbreakers with prior DWI convictions are a serious problem. MADD claims such offenders comprise nearly one-third of the alcohol-related dangers on the road.

Last year, Texas had 124,662 residents with three or more DWI convictions, according to the state Department of Transportation. The agency reported 18,271 other Texans had five DWI convictions or more.

One person had 22 convictions, the most of any driver in the state, TxDOT said.

Drunken drivers involved in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have a prior DWI conviction than sober drivers involved in a fatality, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2007.

Two sides to legislation

Penland’s mother, Ann, of Deer Park, supports MADD’s push for ignition interlocks for all DWI convictions.

“It affects so many people when something like this happens,” Ann Penland said of drunken-driving deaths. “If there was a device that could have saved my daughter, why weren’t they on every offender’s car? Even if it was my own child that got a DWI, I would be for it, because that would keep them safe.” 

Not everyone supports MADD’s proposal. 

The American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade association, is urging the Texas Legislature to reject the bills.

Institute spokeswoman Sarah Longwell said ignition interlocks for first-time DWI convicts “ignore the root cause of today’s drunk-driving problem: hard-core alcohol abusers.” 

Only eight states in the U.S. require or “provide strong incentives for” interlocks for all convicted drunken drivers, MADD says: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Washington. MADD is pushing for all other states to follow suit.

LOCAL INTERLOCKS

How many Harris County drivers use ignition interlocks is unknown. The Department of Public Safety tracks such numbers statewide, but not by county.

In the past two years, Harris County’s criminal county courts, which handle misdemeanor cases, ordered 4,063 defendants to install ignition interlocks once their cases were resolved. 

The administrative office for Harris County’s district criminal courts, which handles felony cases, could not provide any interlock numbers.

RECENT FATALITIES

Deaths attributed to repeat DWI offenders:

• Feb. 21: A father and his 4-year-old daughter are killed by a Houston woman with a prior drunken-driving conviction who is driving the wrong way on Texas 249.

• Feb. 12: A Pasadena man, previously charged in a fatal drunken-driving crash, is killed by a drunken driver who also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated last year.

• Feb. 11: A La Porte man with four prior drunken-driving convictions kills another driver in a head-on crash.

• Dec. 16: A 13-year-old is run over exiting a school bus in northwest Harris County. It is the 30-year-old man’s second drunken-driving arrest.

• Nov. 13: A man kills a 3-year-old boy and critically injures his mother in a crash in northeast Harris County. The crash marks his third drunken-driving charge.

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