Sunday, December 14, 2008

Drunk driver kills someone, yet gets only a speeding ticket

Mario Chavez was driving drunk when he hit another car, killing its driver, 20-year-old University of Maryland student Brian Gray. Gray's mother was traveling behind him in another vehicle, and watched her son die. When police arrived at the scene, they did not bother to give Chavez a test for his blood alcohol level. Chavez lied to investigators about what he was doing prior to the crash, claiming he was sleeping even though his cell phone records show that he was talking on the phone. He didn't lose his job and he has only received a speeding ticket. Brian Gray, however, had blood taken from his dead body to see if he had been drinking, but he had not.

It seems the rules are different when the guilty party is a police officer. Mario Chavez is a Prince George's County, Maryland police officer who was driving his patrol car at the time of the accident. For some reason the black box recording device for his police cruiser has not been checked for evidence due to "software problems." A page of nurse's notes about Chavez after his admission to Prince George's Hospital after the crash has also disappeared.

(Via The Agitator.)

1 comment:

Reed said...

I'm surprised it's not routine procedure for police in any state to administer blood-alcohol tests to those involved in accidents involving fatalities.

They drew blood from the victim, but gave the officer a pass, which would suggest it's optional.