Are these people some kind of elite?
Sounds like it. DNA results come in faster. "It goes to show you that he is human..."
Test results weeks away in news anchor wreck
By Eric J.S. Townsend
Staff Writer
WINSTON-SALEM — They were both rising stars in their chosen fields: one as a local newscaster, the other as a cook at the Forsyth Country Club.
Now one is dead. And the future of the man who hit him in a Sunday morning accident remains in legal limbo as results from a blood test for alcohol levels could take weeks.
Tolly Glenn Carr, 32, a news anchor with WXII (Channel 12, NBC), faces one count of driving while impaired in the death of Casey Ryan Bokhoven, who lived within sight of where he was killed.
Police allege that Carr was intoxicated when his vehicle struck Bokhoven, 26, of 1406 W. First St., at 3:40 a.m.
Carr was treated for minor injuries, and a station employee in the car with him — 33-year-old Fjola I. Wilson — remained in good condition Monday at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
"I think he was in shock," said Andrew Rodgers, who ran from his apartment near the accident and found Bokhoven under the car. "I know he got on the phone as I was standing there and he called to tell someone he was in trouble."
Carr, named co-anchor in September of the morning newscasts, declined to comment Monday. He referred all questions to his Winston-Salem lawyer, Carl Parrish, who could not be reached.
Parrish is the same attorney featured on WXII's "Ask the Lawyer" segments.
Bokhoven's family was in the process of making funeral arrangements Monday.
Court records shed light on what took place in the hours after the accident.
Carr refused to take a Breathalyzer exam at 5:34 a.m., forcing police to get a search warrant to have blood drawn for analysis.
The blood was taken in two vials just after 7:30 a.m. Samples will be tested by the State Bureau of Investigation lab in Raleigh, a process that a Winston-Salem police spokesman said could take at least a month to complete.
Court records show Carr, a North Carolina native living in Greensboro, listed a cousin to phone for help once in custody. He was released hours later on a written promise to appear.
Should additional charges be filed, depending on their severity, Carr could be jailed if he fails to post a bond. The current charge does not take into account Bokhoven's death.
Investigators had yet to file a completed accident report as of Monday evening, and Lt. Brad Yandell, the Winston-Salem police spokesman, was unable to answer specific questions about the wreck. He also deferred answering questions on possible charges, instead directing questions to the Forsyth County district attorney.
District Attorney Tom Keith was out of the office Monday. Jim O'Neill, an assistant district attorney who office staff said would prosecute the case, was tied up in a trial and unavailable for comment.
The wreck appeared Monday to take an emotional toll on station employees, from the reporter assigned to cover the story to Hank Price, general manager at WXII.
Price declined to speculate on Carr and his future role with the station, let alone his career. And he declined to say whether an interim co-anchor will be named for the morning news show or how long such an interim would be needed.
"Tolly needs to deal with the things he's going through," Price said, "things we have no say over or involvement with."
Notwithstanding a few negative remarks, Price said viewers offered their prayers and a hope he might learn from the experience. Among the e-mails the station was willing to share:
* "I know that Tolly is in the public eye but it goes to show you that he is human as well. We all make mistakes and that's what anchors have to realize even when they are reporting stories."
* "I am so sorry to learn the tragic news concerning anchor Tolly Carr. He is in my prayers."
At the BP gas station on West First and Hawthorne Road, clerk Katie Parker was torn by grief for Bokhoven, a regular customer of Camel Lights cigarettes and VitaminWater, and for Carr.
"Someone's lost a son. And someone's career has changed for the rest of his life," she said Monday. "It's a tragedy all around."
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/NEWSREC0101/70312023