Driver who ran over nearly 50 people at festival while high gets 25 years

[superconnected]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - A woman who injured nearly 50 people when she plowed her car through a street festival while high on crack cocaine was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday.

Tonya Bell apologized to the victims, many of whom testified how their broken bones, scars and psychological wounds from the June 2 incident have had a profound impact on their lives, limiting their ability to work or pursue their life passions.

"I'm so sorry for the pain I caused," said Bell, who quivered at the defense table and wept often during the half-hour hearing. "It haunts me."

She told the victims she asks God to "bless you back to health."


Read more: http://www.komotv.com/news/national/13537982.html

---

I don't know whether this is harsh or not. She didn't kill anyone. She also didn't stop after hitting the first person.

"At speeds of up to 70 mph, Bell made two passes through the area, knocking people to the side and under the car. A police officer who tried to pull her over said she was laughing as she drove. Her station wagon was finally stopped when officers crashed their scooters under the vehicle and a man jumped through the window to put the transmission in park.

No one was killed, but 49 people were injured, including two police officers."

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. And if she were on Oxycontin she may have killed several

dozen, just a Rush inspired thought.

[DS1]

2. There are some DUers who are going to live the rest of their lives

in pain, handicapped, or both because of injuries from cars. I don't think it's that harsh. She'll probably get out earlier anyway.

[jlake]

3. Harsh? I think not. she asks God to "bless her victims back to health"

[slackmaster]

4. I think 25 years is a slap on the wrist for what she did

I'd have given her a year for each person she injured.

[emilyg]

5. Harsh?

What if it was you or your family. Some of them will have life long pain.

[FreepFryer]

6. "Her station wagon was finally stopped when officers crashed their scooters under the vehicle" Umm..

...wtf? :)

[question everything]

7. Of course it is not harsh

Some of her victims may wish they were dead, if their suffering will be for the rest of their lives.

Besides, chances are, she will get out early.

[MadMaddie]

8. She knew driving while intoxicated was illegal

And the sentence is appropriate. I would like to see the same sentences for drunk drivers who injure, maim and kill innocent victims.

Now...a question to everyone....if the suspect was on cocaine, white and wealthy would they have gotten the same sentence?

[bean fidhleir]

26. "if the suspect was on cocaine, white and wealthy would they have gotten the same sentence?"

BING-O! And we have a winner here, folks!

White and wealthy would have got a fine, probation, and community service. Maybe 1-5 if enough people pushed it.

[Hulk]

9. She got what she deserved....now multiply that sentence times 49.

[High Plains]

10. Hmm...that would be 1225 years. Are you from Oklahoma, by any chance?

They like those Old Testament milennial sentences down there.

[terisan]

11. It seems more to me like a useless sentence. What does it accomplish?

If the contents of the news story are true, I would prefer a criminal justice system that that considered the needs of her seven year old child as well as all the victims, that perhaps her initial jail time be spent in education and job training, that perhaps she be unable to get a license or drive, that she be on work release-maybe braceleted-and that a good part of her salary be apportioned to her victims.

I certainly don't know the details of this case or whether she is likely to have a relapse and do something similar again.

Prison costs a lot of money. I would like to see some of the money saved in work release be paid to victims.


I watched Michael Moore's outtakes on Sicko about the criminal justice system in Norway. An eyeopener.

[LeftyMom]

13. If she's mowed down 50 people while high on crack, the needs of her child don't include her.

Except with the phrase "far away from" as a modifier.

[terisan]

14. Easy to say but sometimes the foster care alternatives are very grim; and kids can really use some

contact even if supervised with a mother. Bonds mean something. Too many kids, poor black and poor white, get bounced from home to home. The foster care stipends in many states barely feed and clothe them.

A parent who is working can at least send support money and presents, and I think that can make a huge difference to a child-knowing there is a parent out there who may have done a bad thing but who loves you and thinks about you and sends presents.

I think so many Americans who claim to care about family values let these family ties be broken for children with parents in prison--and there is no one to fill that void. So the child is more apt to repeat the cycle.

[mainegreen]

19. !!!!

:applause:

[Alcibiades]

15. Her child was in the car

I totally agree that prison costs a lot of money and should be reserved for violent offenders and other people who pose a danger to the public. Ms. Bell, sadly, poses a danger to herself, her daughter, and the public.

I cannot imagine the damage it would do to a 7 year old's psyche to see her mother go on a drug-induced psychotic rage and hit 49 people with her car. Golly, if she can smoke $700 worth of crack and do this with her child in the car, what other abuse and neglect is she capable of?

Many drug offenders shouldn't do jail time. I used to do quite a bit of cocaine, and smoked crack a couple of times. I've even had a drug-induced psychotic break or two. It never made me want to take my car and drive it at speeds up to 70 mph at a street festival with my child inside, dragging people under my car for blocks, etc. That's something that has to already be there before you start doing drugs.

I don't think this is a crime that is common in Norway. She's not going to do something similar again. This sort of thing is a one-off crime. You don't get a do-over.

[terisan]

16. Moore presented an chain saw murderer.

I don;t understand your saying she won;t do it again and that she poses a danger to the public.

Do you believe in rehabilitation?

[-..__...]

18. 9th time is the charm.

According to the article she had 8 previous criminal convictions.

:eyes:

[Alcibiades]

24. I mean she won't drive her car into another crowd

She won't go into a drug-induced psychosis and try to kill many people (she only hit 49--I am assuming many more were able to get out of the way) with her car. That's a one-off, unique crime. If she reoffends, it will almost certainly be something else. For the duration of her sentence, however, the only offenses she will commit (if any) will be against herself, other inmates, or prison staff. That's what her sentence will accomplish. Sorry, but I don't want this lady out driving again for a while. She needs a time out.

Rehabilitation works when people work at rehabilitation. Trying to run down that many people in your car, that comes from a place of deep rage. I don't think Norway produces as many people who are steeped in such a harsh vibe as we do. As for whether that Norwegian chainsaw killer is likely to reoffend, the fact that he used a chainsaw simply makes his crime gruesome: it tells us little about the possibility of his rehabilitation. What was his age? How old were his victims? Were they relatives, friends, or complete strangers? I do believe in rehabilitation, because the data show its possible. There is a wealth of actuarial data we can use to assess the recidivism risk of many types of offenders. Based on the nature of Ms. Bell's crime, I do think it's probably a good idea that she not be allowed to have responsibility for any children, including her daughter. What part of her behavior during the crime didn't constitute child endangerment? Even if she hadn't actually hit anyone, CPS should have taken the child away, just for smoking that much crack and attempting this sort of thing while she was in the car.

In a neighboring city, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar injured nine in an incident that reminds me of this one, except that he claimed some sort of political motivation rather than a drug-induced psychosis. His top speed was only 40-45 mph. He was charged with nine counts of first-degree murder and nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If he's convicted, I think any time he has to do is perfectly legitimate, given that he was a sane, rational, very intelligent person who knew he was either going to be killed or go to prison.

[gaijinlaw]

12. No, I don't think so.

She may be sincerely sorry, but justice must be served. Nothing to celebrate though.

Now let's see some of the bushies face justice for their crimes.

[-..__...]

17. Harsh?!?

The judge that sentenced her needs a punch in the head for letting her get off so lightly.

I'd like to know why the cops at the scene didn't end her rampage sooner by putting a few bullets behind her ear.

[EvilAL]

20. If they miss

and shoot someone else in the head, that's not good either.

[Cronus Protagonist]

21. An old man did much the same in Santa Monica a few years back

He had a history of driving reckelssly and he drove into a farmer's market and killed several people, drove over some of them and severly injured a lot more. He got away with it. I know someone who was narrowly missed and he saw the old man just staring straight ahead, eyes wide open, acting as if nothing was happening. He never hit the brakes.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/16/farmers.market.crash/index.html

Nine (in the end, it was ten) people were killed, including a 3-year-old girl, authorities said. The more than 54 hurt include 14 people with critical injuries, they said. Two of those critically injured are under the age of 2.

And the result of his trial?

Suspended sentence.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4778820

Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson said he agreed completely with the jury and called Weller's actions callous and showing "an enormous indifference to human life."

...

"Mr. Weller chose to steer into the people, plowing into the crowd and literally launching bodies into the air as his car sped 2½ blocks," the judge said. The judge also called Weller's apologies hollow.

...

Weller could have received up to 18 years in prison, but the judge said Weller's health problems including severe heart disease would make him a burden on prison authorities and taxpayers, and that imprisonment would most likely kill Weller.

[Binka]

23. My Friend Lost His Girlfriend In That

He committed suicide in 2006. Mr Weller should have gone to jail! :cry:

[Arkansas Granny]

22. It wouldn't be considered harsh if she had fired a weapon into a

crowd and injured 49 people. In this case, she used her car as a weapon. I see no difference just because she was loaded instead of the weapon.

[ohio2007]

25. well...she was driving a loaded car...sort to speak

legalize weed and she would have gotten off with a drunk driving citation....
lol