Arguments for increased personal responsibility are always encouraging, whenever they crop up; however, human nature being what it is, there are numerous situations when individuals will “opt-out” of the civilized world and hide themselves for fear of being discovered by the police and society as a whole. Actions, as the saying goes, speak louder than words.
As Baltimore auto and trucking accident lawyers, we have been witness to numerous individual victims of passenger car, commercial truck and motorcycle collisions. What never ceases to amaze is how these victims manage to press on with their lives following what are typically violent and painful incidents that interrupt and sometimes permanently change the course of these individuals’ lives. Despite the pain and discomfort, victims of bike, truck and motorcycle accidents must persevere if they are to have a hope of returning to a normal semblance of life, at least as they knew it before the tragedy of a serious roadway wreck.
The other side of the coin is, of course, the negligent individuals whose actions placed their victims in a particular physical or medical situation. Many of these people do, in fact, own up to their mistakes or negligent acts that cause injury to another person. But there are certainly others who fail to admit fault and who, through the legal system, must be forced to account for their deeds. Of these individuals, there are some who run from their responsibility as well as the law. A few are never caught; others are arrested, eventually.
One recent story we caught in the news covered a man who tried to evade police and his responsibility apparently after a series of hit-and-run automobile accidents on the same day. According to reports, police in Anne Arundel County ended up arresting a suspect who law enforcement officials say was responsible for four hit-and-run traffic incidents prior to allegedly driving his vehicle into a residence in Annapolis.
Based on news articles at the time, officers eventually caught 29-year-old Eric Castronova following a collision between the man’s vehicle and a house on Bywater Rd. Police reports indicate that the man tried unsuccessfully to evade authorities by fleeing on foot from the scene of the final accident; however, that was only the end of the story.
Based on various sources, the initial incident took place around 2pm, which resulted in police being called to the scene of an apparent hit-and-run traffic collision in the vicinity of Boxwood Rd. and Hilltop Ln. Officers responding to the crash were told by the driver of a second vehicle that a green SUV, possibly a Ford Explorer, had apparently driven off following the traffic accident.
The same officers also responded to another accident, this time at Gemini and Forest Drives. Witnesses at that particular accident site described what seemed to be the same green Ford sport utility vehicle driving away from the scene. During that accident investigation, police were called to yet another crash, this time at Forest and South. Cherry Grove Road; same vehicle description as well.
The crash into the home on Bywater was the last stop for the driver, who was eventually taken into custody and charged with numerous offenses including 1st and 2nd degree assault; four separate counts of leaving the scene of a road accident, driving while impaired by alcohol, plus a number of other traffic violations.
Drunk drivers can inflict serious harm, such as broken bones, spinal cord injuries and closed-head trauma. Although there was no mention of injuries during this driver’s entire escapade, the home he ran into on Bywater was subsequently deemed unsafe by local authorities and the family living there had to be relocated until repairs could be made to rectify the structural problems caused by the collision.
Police: Man Causes 4 Accidents, Hits House While Intoxicated; Patch.com, April 6, 2012
Man arrested for leaving 5 crash scenes, ABC2News.com, April 6, 2012