Alcohol clouds the judgment of those who consume it, so it often takes the help of others to be sure that those who have had a little too much don’t get behind the wheel of a car. Sometimes, that help isn’t quite enough.
On the evening of April 12, 2014, a 22-year-old and his 23-year-old friend were involved in an incident at The Hangout on Plano’s North Central Expressway that proved to be fatal. Law enforcement officials are using witness reports to piece together what happened.
Just before 10:30 p.m., there was an incident inside the bar, and the 22-year-old patron was reportedly asked to leave. As he went outside, the bar’s bouncers reportedly tried to stop the man from getting behind the wheel of his car, but they were unsuccessful. The man was said to have sped away as one employee recorded his license plate number.
A few minutes later as the man’s friend was walking across the parking lot with three of the bar’s employees, the 22-year-old allegedly came back in his car at a high rate of speed and slammed into the group. The young man’s friend was seriously injured in the crash, and he succumbed to his injuries eight days later. Emergency responders treated two of the bouncers at the scene, and a third was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. He has since been discharged.
The driver was originally charged DWI and accident involving injury, but additional charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and murder were added after the victim died. The young man is in the Collin County Jail with bail set in the amount of $200,000.
This is a classic case of how consuming too much alcohol can cause someone to lose control and cause a tragedy. It is doubtful whether this young man would ever have tried something like this if he had not been under the influence, and yet he is now charged with a first-degree felony that can result in a lifetime prison sentence. A criminal defense attorney may be this young man’s best bet for avoiding that type of sentence.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, “Update: Bouncers tried to stop suspected drunken driver in Plano before he ran them over” Valerie Wigglesworth, Apr. 29, 2014