Posted on 01/28/2005 8:51:33 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
Man Fined $650 in Fatal Crash
By Gabrielle Finley The Ledger
LAKELAND -- An Okeechobee man who caused one of Polk County's deadliest car crashes has been fined $650 as punishment.
On June 4 of last year, Salvador de la Cruz killed five seminary students from Crown College of the Bible near Knoxville, Tenn., when his truck collided head-on with the Ford van they were driving on State Road 60 near the banks of the Kissimmee River.
De la Cruz appeared in front of Polk County Judge Timothy Coon last week and was handed a $500 fine for failing to stay in his lane and a $150 fine for operating a vehicle with faulty equipment, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Trooper Larry Coggins.
Polk County prosecutors did not criminally charge de la Cruz.
Instead, he was charged with civil traffic infractions, punishable by fines but not jail time.
"When it's an infraction that causes a death, the judge's hands are tied, and this is the maximum that the judge could levy against him," Coggins said.
De la Cruz, still visibly shaken, bruised and burned from the crash, admitted to losing control of his citrus truck, which had bad tires and brakes.
On the afternoon of June 4, de la Cruz was driving east on a two-lane stretch on State Road 60, when his citrus tractor-trailer veered into the opposite lane and crashed head on into a Ford van carrying the five young adults.
Upon impact, the van and truck burst into flames. De la Cruz was thrown from his truck.
Bradley Askew, 22, of Loganville, Ga.; Johnathon Pinkerton, 18, of Madison, Ala.; David Childers, 21, of Nallen, W. Va.; and newlyweds Aaron Brown, 21, of Belleville, Ohio, and Darci Brown, 22, of Mansfield, Ohio, were killed instantly.
The young adults were traveling the Southeast singing and preaching at local churches.
Parents and family members, who appeared at de La Cruz's court hearing, were upset when they heard the judge's ruling.
"It's so ironic that the lives of five people was worth $650," said Larry McCabe, the father of Darci Brown. "I'm flabbergasted. I don't know what to say. They were wonderful kids."
McCabe said he was disappointed by Florida's handling of the case. He and other relatives of the victims hired a lawyer to continue investigating the crash for possible civil action.
Gabrielle Finley can be reached at gabrielle.finley@theledger.com or 863802-7590. Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
God be with them and God be with our country because until this immigration issue is resolved..we will keep seeing crap like this. Outrageous.
They couldn't charge him with manslaughter? What's up with Florida anyway?
Perhaps we should use this example in the courts now. This will solve the frivolous lawsuit issue in a heartbeat.
We hear of stuff like this everyday, but this one is hard to believe. We have to get rid of some judges!
Are we going to imprison everyone who has a car accident?
Sounds to me like they ought to charge the owner of the truck.
There are areas of the country where going 30 mph over the speed limit will get you a higher fine than this.
I live in one of them.
You must know something that isn't in the article.
Nowhere does it say the driver was a migrant worker. Or an alien.
I post this every so often when the message seems relevant, sort of as a memorial to Mom, as well as to let people know what the justice system is really like.
December 5th, 2001, my mother, Shirley Norkunas, was killed in a car wreck. She was on her way to a Dr.'s appointment. The roads and weather were clear, it was about 9 in the morning, the place was just south of Superior, WI on State Hwy 35. She was driving north toward Superior.
A fellow named Thomas Frankot was heading south that morning, driving on a suspended license. He crossed into my mother's lane, she was killed instantly in the resulting crash.
Thomas Frankot lived. He is essentially judgement proof, with very few assets.
He, after much wrangling, finally pled guilty in September 2002 to driving after suspension and driving left of center.
Previous relevant citations (there are half a dozen or so others)
DWI.
DWI/OAS (Operation After Suspension)
OAS
No Valid License
OAR (Operation after Revocation)
OAR
That was six offenses BEFORE he killed Mom, so you know he was really in trouble this time.
Was he ever.
He was fined $363, license suspended for six months, and given sixty days to pay.
That's not even the funny part.
I checked again today, and he has not paid the fine, even though nearly three years, much less the sixty days have lapsed.
I asked the clerk of courts what happens when the fines aren't paid.
They suspend his license.
Now, that's justice for ya.
It's terrible that those young people lost their lives in such a tragic way. If it had been one of us driving they would have thrown us in prison for 50 years on 5 counts of vehicular homiside or manslaughter. This is just more proof that our judicial system is broken. These judges need to be removed.
I live locally and this story has been on the news and they do indeed call him a migrant worker who did citrus deliveries for the groves after they were picked...FYI. The Ledger has a tendency to leave out some things like this.
Figures out to $130 for each life. That's more value than we put on humans in an abortion clinic.
So sorry for your loss and that is an outrage...my prayers to you and your mother..God Bless.
On the afternoon of June 4, a tractor-trailer rumbled east down S.R. 60 toward the Kissimmee River bridge, drifted left of the center line and smashed into a van carrying five members of a church college-ministry group from Tennessee.
Aaron Brown, 21; his wife, Darci Brown, 22; Johnny Pinkerton, 18; David Childers, 21; and Bradley Askew, 22, died.
The driver of the truck, Salvador De La Cruz, 44,an immigrant from Mexico, was critically injured and in a coma for six weeks. Today he is still recovering, in pain and unable to work. He said the truck's steering malfunctioned just as he approached the bridge.
"It wouldn't respond to the controls," he said. "I can't remember anything after that."
De La Cruz had driven S.R. 60 for years as a commercial truck driver. Besides his crash, "I've seen a lot of accidents, semis going off the road," he said. De La Cruz was ticketed for failure to maintain his vehicle and for crossing the center line.
Scott Pauley, assistant pastor at Temple Baptist Church and director of admissions at the church's Crown College in Powell, Tenn., which sponsored the ministry and music trip the five young people were on, said it was devastating to lose his friends.
"They were the best of the best, you know," Pauley said of the five victims.
"I live locally and this story has been on the news and they do indeed call him a migrant worker who did citrus deliveries for the groves after they were picked...FYI. The Ledger has a tendency to leave out some things like this."
FYI...it wasn't in the article and that is what I was pointing out. Based on what I read there was no mention of him being illegal or a migrant worker. Since the story is locally and not nationally, there is no way for me to determine his status. Thanks for the update.
>>We have to get rid of some judges!<<
It ain't the judge, it's the D.A. The judge can't sentence him for a crime he hasn't been prosecuted for.
I wonder if there's any action that can be taken against the D.A. The person is guilty of manslaughter in any state, vehicular homicide in mine.
A guy from work here says I'm nuts. I'm sorry; I just feel for your terrible loss. If it makes me angry, I can only wonder how you handle it. God be with you.
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