THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9503010466
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
A judge sentenced Arnold O. Peterson on a drunken driving charge in Virginia Beach before prosecutors could argue for a stiffer sentence for Peterson, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in an unrelated drunken driving case.
Judge Frederick P. Aucamp sentenced Peterson to 30 days in jail and fined him $1,000 for driving drunk in Virginia Beach on Dec. 3. That was seven weeks before Peterson was charged with killing a Richmond lawyer and his companion while driving drunk in Norfolk.
Aucamp, a substitute judge from Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, sentenced Peterson, 47, Monday before city prosecutors could tell him of Peterson's repeated driving violations.
``The judge presented his decision before there was even any opportunity to raise the issue,'' said Assistant City Attorney Nianza Wallace. ``The judge was not even aware of the Norfolk case at that point.
``That doesn't mean it would have meant any difference, but it may have,'' he said. In General District Court, ``what happens there usually happens pretty quickly.''
Peterson could have been ordered to serve the entire 12-month sentence for the DUI conviction.
On Jan. 21, Peterson led Virginia Beach, Norfolk and state police on a 15-mile chase from Virginia Beach to Norfolk. Peterson's van collided with a 1983 BMW near the Brambleton Avenue exit from Interstate 264.
William L. Rosbe, 50, and Theresa G. Timms, 40, were killed when their car was struck at the intersection of Duke Street and Brambleton Avenue, according to police. Their car overturned several times. Rosbe and Timms died instantly.
Less than three weeks earlier, Peterson was arrested by Virginia Beach police after he failed several sobriety tests. Police had been called to the home of his estranged wife for a domestic dispute. They were writing up an incident report when Peterson drove by, Wallace said.
Police stopped him after they saw him make several turns without a signal. After he failed sobriety tests, he was arrested and later charged with a second offense of driving under the influence, assaulting an officer and resisting arrest.
The judge dismissed the charge of assaulting an officer, but found him guilty on the DUI charge, sentenced him to 12 months in jail with all but 30 days suspended and fined him $500. The judge also found him guilty of resisting arrest and sentenced him to 30 days in jail and fined him $500. Both jail sentences are to run concurrently. The judge also suspended Peterson's license for three years.
Peterson has a record of drunken-driving charges that dates to 1976.
He was stopped on his first DUI charge at the same Brambleton Avenue exit on Interstate 264 where Rose and Timms died.
He was stopped again less than a year later by Norfolk police on Llewellyn Avenue and charged with DUI. Both charges were levied before court records were computerized, and it was unclear whether Peterson was found guilty.
However, court documents indicate that in February of 1992, Peterson was convicted of DUI in Virginia Beach.
Peterson also has a reckless driving conviction in Chesapeake in 1991 and an improper driving conviction in Virginia Beach in 1994, according to court records.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY DRUNKEN DRIVING
ARREST SENTENCING by CNB