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Man To Surrender In Fatal Farmers' Market Crash (Elderly Man Could Face 18 Years In Prison)
NBC Channel 4, Los Angeles ^
| 8:49 AM PST January 6, 2004
| NBC Channel 4, Los Angeles
Posted on 01/06/2004 10:01:58 AM PST by Smogger
LOS ANGELES -- An 87-year-old man will surrender to authorities Tuesday after being charged with manslaughter in the deaths 10 people killed when his car roared through a Santa Monica, Calif., Farmers' Market, his attorney said.
George Russell Weller of Santa Monica faces 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the July 16 crash, the district attorney's office said. The accident also injured 63 people.
Weller is charged in the deaths of Theresa Bregalia, 50, of Bronx, N.Y.; Brendon Esfahani, 7 months, of Los Angeles; Molok Ghoulian, 62, of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzalez, 35, of Venice; Movsha Hoffman, 78, of Santa Monica; Leroy Lattier, 55, a transient; Diana McCarthy, 41, of New York, N.Y.; Kevin McCarthy, 50, of New York, N.Y.; Cindy Valladares, 3, of Los Angeles; and Lynne Ann Weaver, 47, of Woodland Hills. The victims were struck while shopping at the Farmers' Market on Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica on July 16, 2003.
Weller has agreed to surrender to authorities at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, prosecutors and a defense attorney said. Prosecutors recommended bail of $50,000, which Weller's attorney said he was prepared to post.
If convicted on all counts, he could receive sentences ranging from probation to 18 years in prison.
Describing the crash as an accident, defense attorney Jim Bianco said Weller and his family were disappointed by the news. He declined to comment further Monday.
"People refer to things as accidents, but if you negligently drive a vehicle and you hit a person and that person dies, that's a crime," said Head Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lynch told the Los Angeles Times. "Mr. Weller drove that vehicle negligently and he killed 10 people."
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: elderly; farmersmarket; manslaughter; santamonica
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Amazing he has been walking around free this long.
1
posted on
01/06/2004 10:01:59 AM PST
by
Smogger
To: All
Rank |
Location |
Receipts |
Donors/Avg |
Freepers/Avg |
Monthlies |
47 |
Vermont |
30.00
|
2
|
15.00
|
29
|
1.03
|
49.00
|
5
|
Thanks for donating to Free Republic!
Move your locale up the leaderboard!
2
posted on
01/06/2004 10:03:21 AM PST
by
Support Free Republic
(If Woody had gone straight to the police, this would never have happened!)
To: Smogger
Is it true that he had to drive around parked cars in order to successfully make the 1,000 foot run?
To: Dialup Llama
Elderly drivers are notorious about opposing recurrent driver or vision testing. Furthermore, they vote.
I got stuck behind a geezer on a Vermont highway this weekend. He was going 25 mph, really, in a 55 mph zone. I was stuck behind the Q-tip for miles!
4
posted on
01/06/2004 10:18:06 AM PST
by
billorites
(freepo ergo sum)
To: billorites
They always drive big American cars, heaven help us if they switch to SUV's.
5
posted on
01/06/2004 10:33:38 AM PST
by
boomop1
To: Conspiracy Guy
"People refer to things as accidents, but if you negligently drive a vehicle and you hit a person and that person dies, that's a crime," said Head Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lynch told the Los Angeles Times. "Mr. Weller drove that vehicle negligently and he killed 10 people."
Egggggsactly! Regardless of age, negligence is negligence. I would expand this to include any damage done to any property would constitute a crime as well. Most (90%) of the car crashes in our society are caused by negligence of one or more parties.
6
posted on
01/06/2004 10:44:40 AM PST
by
CSM
(Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R.-at large), my new hero! The Anti anti Smoke Gnatzie!)
To: CSM
Personal responsibility, what a concept. Think it will catch on?
7
posted on
01/06/2004 10:55:35 AM PST
by
Conspiracy Guy
(Lazamataz stole my tagline. If you see him tell him I want it back. Soon!!)
To: Conspiracy Guy
Think it will catch on? Not if the Demon Rat democrats have anything to say about it.
8
posted on
01/06/2004 10:58:57 AM PST
by
Mark17
To: Mark17
Yes they will say that he was a victim of the public not taking his license and providing him with free on demand personal transportation. I wonder what Anti-American-Retired-People (AARP) have to say about the case.
9
posted on
01/06/2004 11:03:17 AM PST
by
Conspiracy Guy
(Lazamataz stole my tagline. If you see him tell him I want it back. Soon!!)
To: boomop1
They always drive big American cars, heaven help us if they switch to SUV's. Contrary to popular belief, most old people have bags of money -- they can afford the big cars.
To: Conspiracy Guy
I wonder what Anti-American-Retired-People (AARP) have to say about the case. The same I am sure. They will probably demand more of your tax dollars too.
11
posted on
01/06/2004 11:17:08 AM PST
by
Mark17
To: billorites
Jumpin' Jehosaphat, what in the H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS happened with that one?
12
posted on
01/06/2004 11:18:41 AM PST
by
Poohbah
("Beware the fury of a patient man" -- John Dryden)
To: Conspiracy Guy
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Quit giving them ideas!
13
posted on
01/06/2004 11:21:29 AM PST
by
CSM
(Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R.-at large), my new hero! The Anti anti Smoke Gnatzie!)
To: Mark17
Probably.
14
posted on
01/06/2004 11:23:19 AM PST
by
Conspiracy Guy
(Lazamataz stole my tagline. If you see him tell him I want it back. Soon!!)
To: Smogger
An 18 year sentence for an 87 year old man? Hmmmmm!
I guess it could be worse. They might give him life.
15
posted on
01/06/2004 11:26:16 AM PST
by
curmudgeonII
(Two things happen to you as you ago. One - you forget things. I don't remember the other.)
To: Smogger
Do you think the guy thought that because of his age that he had a freebie so he figured what the heck? I've read that some age related impairments involve a lack of impulse control. So maybe the he figured he could mow down some people for fun and still go free.
To: CSM
Sorry. I wasn't thinking. Again.
17
posted on
01/06/2004 11:34:42 AM PST
by
Conspiracy Guy
(Lazamataz stole my tagline. If you see him tell him I want it back. Soon!!)
To: Smogger
defense attorney Jim Bianco said Weller and his family were disappointed by the news.What, he thinks this is a game where you can have a "Do Over" ?
He has had 87 years, he took from people the chance to live that long.
Hard Labor.
18
posted on
01/06/2004 1:40:39 PM PST
by
happygrl
To: Poohbah
"Jumpin' Jehosaphat, what in the H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS happened with that one?"Well, you know the old story.
a) The car jumped into gear.
b) He got confused about which pedal was which.
c) I got lost in my garage.
19
posted on
01/06/2004 2:24:48 PM PST
by
billorites
(freepo ergo sum)
To: Smogger
I bet he claims "the accelerator pedal got stuck." This is a phenomenon known to happen to cars driven by old people.
20
posted on
01/06/2004 2:28:56 PM PST
by
Junior
(To sweep, perchance to clean... Aye, there's the scrub.)
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