Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993 TAG: 9302230273
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TEEN-AGER CONVICTED IN HALLOWEEN ACCIDENT
A 17-year-old motorist who accidentally hit a trick-or-treater on Halloween night, then drove off in fear when an angry crowd of parents surrounded his car, was convicted Monday of reckless driving.The Roanoke youth said there was no way he could have avoided hitting 7-year-old Amber Clark when she stepped into the path of his car on Pennsylvania Avenue Northeast.
He would have said the same thing the night of the accident, he testified in Roanoke Circuit Court, but the angry crowd never gave him the chance.
The youth testified that about 25 people surrounded his car, yelling, pounding on the doors and rocking it. One man reached through the passenger's side window and punched him in the mouth. A woman tried to drag a teen-age passenger out of the car by her hair. Someone else slashed a tire.
At least one member of the crowd was charged with assault, but the case was later dropped because of identity questions.
The 17-year-old - who is not being named because of his age - said he was forced to drive away. He stopped around the corner and called police.
Amber Clark was treated that night at Community Hospital and released. Officials described her injuries as minor.
Police said the crowd's actions were one reason they chose not to charge the youth with hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident.
His trial Monday focused instead on whether his driving caused the accident. Some witnesses said he was going as fast as 30 mph as he approached a crowd of costumed youngsters and their parents.
Amber Johnson apparently was crossing the street when she was stuck by the car's front fender. Her mother testified that after stopping briefly, the youth backed up his car and struck the child a second time - an account she did not tell police at the time, and one that no one else has described.
Defense attorney Tom Blaylock had argued that the most his client was guilty of was improper driving.
But Judge Diane Strickland convicted him of the more serious charge and ordered his license suspended for 30 days. She also ordered that he give a talk to a school or church group "to share with other young people how an event like this could occur."