ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996                 TAG: 9605300086
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Lede 

GUILTY PLEA BY DRIVER EXPECTED LAWYER SAYS CHASE DEATHS AN ACCIDENT

The 21-year-old man who led Roanoke County police on a chase that ended in a crash, killing a family of three, is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter charges next month.

Scott Allman waived his right to a preliminary hearing on three counts of involuntary manslaughter Wednesday in Roanoke County General District Court. Allman will plead guilty to the charges in Circuit Court on June 25, according to his court-appointed attorney, Thomas Blaylock.

Allman "realizes that all of this could have been avoided if he had just stopped," Blaylock told reporters outside the courtroom. "When this chase started he never, ever meant to kill anyone. It was not an intentional act."

At 1:49 p.m. April 21, a Roanoke County officer tried to stop Allman to test his tinted car windows and determine if they violated state law. But Allman accelerated, leading police on a 15-mile chase.

He hit a car at Hershberger and Plantation roads, but that motorist and her passenger escaped injury. Allman then continued to the intersection of Plantation and Williamson roads, crashing into a car and killing its occupants. Thomas Faucher Jr., 34, and Lori Mason, 36, died at the scene. Their 6-week old daughter, Joleen Faucher, died the next day at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital.

On Wednesday, Allman pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended operator's license and misdemeanor hit and run. On those offenses Judge George Harris sentenced him to a total of 14 months in jail and a $1,250 fine. Blaylock said he will appeal those sentences.

Allman remains in Roanoke County Jail on no bond. He faces a maximum sentence of 32 years if convicted on the manslaughter and traffic charges in Circuit Court. He also faces a long list of previous traffic charges in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Botetourt County.

Near the accident site, four friends have made sure passing motorists do not forget the deadly results of that fatal chase. On a patch of grass near the intersection, they have placed a memorial to the couple and their child - three wooden crosses each tied with a white bow and lily.

The friends were touched by the accident in different ways: one witnessed it, another was a nurse who attended the victims, and two listened to their friends' accounts.

"It was such a horrific thing to have happened," said one of the friends, who did not want her name published. "It was so close, it was so fast and so final."

LENGTH: Medium:   58 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  1. ERIC BRADY/Staff. Crosses at Williamson Road and 
          Plantation Road mark the site of an accident that killed Thomas 
          Faucher Jr., Lori Mason and Joleen Faucher, their daughter. 2. 
          STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. Scott Allman is accused of accidentally
          killing a family of three in a chase with Roanoke County police. 
          color.