Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1993 TAG: 9305190277
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The driver at fault in a crash that killed three people Sunday had a blood alcohol content of more than 2 1/2 times the legal limit for intoxication.
Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said Tuesday afternoon that tests on Stanley W. Brooks put his blood alcohol content at 0.26 percent.
"He was just extremely intoxicated," Caldwell said. "That's what it means."
In Virginia, a driver registering 0.10 percent or more is considered to be driving under the influence.
Brooks, 22, had been declared a habitual offender in Roanoke Circuit Court last month and was prohibited from driving a motor vehicle in Virginia for 10 years, Caldwell said.
Brooks' driver's license had been suspended at least six times since 1991. His traffic offense record was five computer pages long.
Shortly after midnight Sunday, Brooks was driving a Mustang that went airborne on Roy Webber Highway, crossed the median and plowed into an oncoming car.
Brooks; his passenger, Gregory S. Kinzie; and Geoffrey R. Pelton, the driver of the other car, died as a result of the accident.
A passenger in Pelton's car, Raymond Dyke, was listed in fair condition Tuesday at University of Virginia Hospital after being transferred from Roanoke Memorial on Monday.
Pelton was a member of the Christian youth group Young Life, and had served as a peer counselor with the Gary Clark Just-Say-No-To-Drugs Camp.
"He was a fine young man who worked against just what happened to him," said his father, George Pelton, the owner of 1st Team Hyundai/Suzuki.
The car Brooks was driving was owned by Kinzie; his license also had been suspended, for driving under the influence. Kinzie had insurance on the car.
Caldwell said the wreck - the worst in Roanoke in eight years - should underscore the need for the General Assembly to get tough with habitual offenders.
The law calls for habitual offenders convicted of driving to serve a minimum of one year in prison. Caldwell favors taking away their cars as well.
"I think this tragedy points to the problem that we have a certain percentage who are going to drive whether they have a license or whether a vehicle is insured," Caldwell said. "It is a Wild West mentality: `You're not going to separate me and my horse.' "
He said the only way to buck the trend toward habitual offenders who ignore the law is to seize their cars.
Their cars "ought to be sold or destroyed," he said.
"A man is dead because he happened to occupy the 10 feet of space where this car landed," Caldwell said. "The two guys in the Mustang were just flagrantly thumbing their noses at the traffic laws. There are just some jerks in our society who just can't learn."
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB