Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog
Fatal traffic accidents are a sad and unfortunately common occurrence on Maryland’s rural and interstate motorways. Every day, drivers from Annapolis, D.C., Baltimore and other cities and towns around the state face multiple dangers when taking to our roadways. This is seemingly the price we pay for living in such a mobile and active society. But many fatal traffic accidents can be prevented or avoided with some luck and a little preparation.
Even so, every few days we hear of a deadly car or truck collision that has claimed yet another life. These victims can be mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, even grandparents. Fate does not discriminate when it comes to traffic accidents. As Maryland auto injury lawyers, our office understands the emotional pain and hardship that accompanies every fatal automobile wreck. Sometimes the negligent party becomes a fugitive from justice, which makes a family’s loss that much more difficult to bear.
A news reports recently called this kind of accident to mind as a man wanted in a fatal drunk driving accident was identified by U.S. Customs agents at a northern boarder crossing. According to reports, Gerald D. Barnett was arrested in March on charges linked to a deadly car crash last year in June.
State Police stated that the 56-year-old Elkton resident is wanted on a string of charges, including negligent motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol, negligent homicide while impaired by alcohol and failure to render assistance to an injured person. The suspect also is facing two additional charges related to drinking and driving, according to the Maryland State Police.
Currently also charged with being a fugitive from justice, Barnett was allegedly driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.19 percent the night of June 12, 2009, when he struck and killed a man loading a moped into the trunk of his car by the roadside. The man, 45-year-old Christopher S. Larson, was killed instantly, according to police.
Larson’s car was pushed off the road and overturned with the victim’s brother still in the vehicle. Police said that at the time Barnett was wanted in Virginia on criminal charges.
Man wanted in DWI fatality in Maryland held as fugitive, WatertownDailyTimes.com, March 3, 2010