Fatal Crash Could Mean Both Criminal and Civil Penalties

An upstate New York illustrates that car crashes are not just civil or personal injury matters. A driver from West Sparta faces three felony charges after a fatal car accident on November 27. The 29-year old driver, William Schledorn, was charged in Livingston County with driving while intoxicated, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation and first-degree making an apparently untrue sworn statement.

The crash that led to these charges killed Schlendorn’s friends, Joshua Price and Katie Burr. The Livingston County sheriff’s office said that as they investigated the crash, it became apparent that Schlendorn had been consuming alcohol and been driving the second vehicle. Moreover, his license had been revoked for a prior DWI conviction, leading to the felony DWI and unlicensed operation charges.

Bail has been set at $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond. Schledorn was turned over to the custody of the Livingston County Jail. In addition to the criminal charges he faces, he could be held liable in civil court for the negligence and misconduct that resulted in the deaths of Price and Burr.

Source: Democrat and Chronicle, “Man Charged in Fatal Crash“, by Gary McLendon, Dec. 6, 2011.