Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
August 24, 2019 — a driver rear ended a motorcyclists on SR101, killing him.
This is certainly one for the record books: sending a not-impaired driver to prison. This is exceedingly rare (but see below, there’s more to this story). There is one other case where a driver was convicted in the 2013 killing of DPS officer Tim Huffman; that driver was said to be distracted by and “watching” his phone…. Continue reading “Driver Sentenced to prison in 2019 killing of a motorcyclist on SR101”
Update: suspect arrested; 44 y.o. Richard Romo. Suspect had a long list of dangerous driving problems, as well as other legal difficulties; previous DUI(s; multiple. aggravated DUI) suspended license (why wasn’t probation revoked last year when he was caught driving?); reckless driving. Much more as situation develops. The suspect, the victim, and the victim’s school are all within 1/2 mile or so of each other. This is in a neighborhood. Disgusting. Continue reading “Driver sentenced; Goodyear police seek hit-and-run killer”
Well, this is unusual — a pickup driver crossed over (driving in the wrong direction) and rammed a large group of bicyclists who were participating in the Bike the Bluff, an organized ride (it’s actually a full-blown race, apparently) in Show Low, Arizona.
Continue reading “Show Low driver rams bicyclists, 7 critical”
5/21/2020 ~ 1PM Hit and run driver of Jeep killed 3 y.o. Carson, who was riding in a trailer pulled by father. Carson’s mother was also injured.
The family was north on the eastside (that’s an odd way to describe it; it appears to describe the group was cycling “in the direction of traffic”) of 70th Avenue, just north of Villa Theresa Drive, when a vehicle heading south ran over the bike trailer.
This is a wholly residential area.
Continue reading “3 y.o. Glendale boy killed by hit and run driver”
Hit and run crash occurred 3/29/2018 ~ 9pm. The bicyclist died of his injuries 4/30.
“Cleon Baker was riding his bike east on Camelback Road near 48th Avenue the night of March 29. Just before 9 p.m., a van – a white Ford Econline with its headlights off, police say — hit him.”
Police are still seeking the driver of a white Ford Econoline van; they believe the driver was caught on surveillance video, described as a Hispanic male, 25-35 years old with a shaved head, mustache, and a thin build. Continue reading “Glendale bicyclist struck by hit-and-run driver has died”
Arizona metes out harsh penalties for drunken driving, with mandatory jail time and heavy fines, and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said Arizona has steep penalties for good reason
“simple” DUI results in spending a day in jail; this is apparently enough to place AZ as having the toughest laws.
You might expect, then, that DUI drivers who injure people, and are not simply driving around impaired, would receive harsh sentences. Continue reading “Does AZ really have “tough” DUI laws?”
[UPDATES plea deal January 2017, then imprisoned due to probation violation Sept 2017]
Driver Wanda Snow House has been charged with hit-and-run in connection with the death of a pedestrian. According to police she “was driving in a bicycle lane on Dobson Road near West Canyon Way on Jan. 14 2015 when she hit a pedestrian, identified as Frances Johnston”. Continue reading “Driver charged w/hit-and-run in Chandler ped fatality”
oh my. Alledged drinking / Percoset / aggravated DUI / child abuse, fleeing the scene, resisting…
That was the scene in Mesa on Tuesday 4/7/2015 afternoon.
Should this woman be driving? — I mean should she have a drivers license? Continue reading “Police: DUI suspect left Mesa wreck with victim on hood”
[Update 2018 & 2019: Linsk got pulled over AGAIN for driving on a suspended/revoked license; wtf? Is this guy a bad driver or what? I got a ticket once THIRTY YEARS AGO. Anyway, TR2019-139024 File Date: 8/19/2019; McDowell Mountain Justice Court; guilty.
TR2018-156438 File Date: 11/20/2018; West Mesa Justice Court; speeding and no license; dismissed on motion of prosecutor (why?) ]
[ Update 2014: Linsk got pulled over and arrested AGAIN after serving his trivial sentence, 12/17/2014: Driving on suspended license: TR2014159525000, East Mesa Justice Court , a citation for unsafe lane change (presumably the reason he was pulled over) were dismissed. ] Continue reading “SENTENCING: Barrow’s Neurologist killed by hit-and-run Driver”
[ 11/28/2016 complaint: EXCEED SPEED LIMIT BY 20/45 MPH, plead guilty. see below. Was Wuertz speeding when he hit and nearly killed Brennan and then fled the scene in 2013? Is he still on probation? ]
[Mar 2014 — plea / plea agreement dated 2/24/2014 The plea stipulates no jail; Wuertz pleas guilty to endangerment, a very low level felony (it even automatically conditionally converts to a misdemeanor). More importantly there is no hit-and-run conviction. That charge, besides being a serious felony, would have resulted in a 5 to 10 year driver license revocation — though the deal does state that “pursuant to 28-3304 the defendant’s license shall be revoked”. Though I’m not sure for how long. Section (A)3 states license must be revoked for commission of any felony w/motor vehicle. I’m not sure when sentencing is but it’s pretty much a done deal] Continue reading “Casa Grande PD nabs hit and run suspect”
A cyclist was killed in Phoenix Friday night; this area is west of the airport and just north of I-17. The victim was later identified: “Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said 70-year-old Lorenzo Nevares was riding on 7th Avenue just north of Interstate 17 when he was struck around 8:30 p.m” [abc15]
The approx location: On 7th Avenue near Mojave Street, just north of I-17. Continue reading “Phoenix police seek ID of bicyclist killed in hit-and-run”
This is remarkable only in that the county attorney sought negligent homicide charges…
From an earlier azcentral story “On May 2, 2007, Mejia was arrested after deputies obtained a search warrant and gathered evidence from a Ford F-350 pickup truck linked to the hit-and-run suspect” . The article doesn’t mention any allegations of evidence tampering(?).
Arizona Superior Court Docket CR2007-006287, All case minutes. Here’s the Warrant to search the large 2007 pickup truck involved. Sentencing Minute from 6/17/2008 — I guess fairly standard, the charges are deemed “non-dangerous” and thus you can get a light sentence the negligent homicide is an F4 (class 4 felony; smaller number are more serious). One oddity was the hit-and-run was listed as an F3, whereas it should have been an F2 (because the defendant clearly caused the collision by driving on the wrong side of the road).
There are a lot of case minutes, including a request to be released early from probation, and numerous requests to revoke probation; finally in the 4/18/2014 minute “Defendant admits violation of probation for condition 1” (whatever that is, i can’t find it in the sentencing minute). It doesn’t seem like anything bad happened.
Mejia TR-200701627 speeding 2/28/2007 in Avondale Muni; dismissed w/driving school; a couple of months before he caused the fatal crash.
These cases from 2013/14 seem to have something only to do with the original case’s restituation, not a new criminal beef: CR2013-462094 and CR2014-110154
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Avondale man gets 3 years in cyclist’s hit-run death
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Arizona Republic, The (Phoenix, AZ)-June 20, 2008
Author: Brent Whiting, The Arizona RepublicAn 18-year-old Avondale man has been sentenced to three years in prison for killing a cyclist in a hit-and-run traffic crash.
Victor Manuel Mejia, who pleaded guilty to charges of negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a serious injury accident, also was placed on a five-year probationary term.
The sentence was handed down last Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court after relatives of Mejia and the victim, Bob Walmsley, were offered a chance to address the judge.
Walmsley, 65, of Sun City West, was killed April 9, 2007, while he and other cyclists were pedaling on 99th Avenue in the Southwest Valley, south of Interstate 10 near Southern Avenue.
He was hit by the driver of a pickup truck who was traveling north on 99th Avenue and was trying to pass another vehicle. The driver fled after striking Walmsley, according to sheriff’s investigators.
On May 2, 2007, Mejia was arrested after deputies obtained a search warrant and gathered evidence from a Ford F-350 pickup truck linked to the hit-and-run suspect.
Walmsley, a cycling enthusiast, moved to Arizona in 2000 after retiring in California as an engineer and computer programmer.