North Carolina Brazen Teen Drunk Driving Leads to Car Crash
A North Carolina teen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing a car from a Graham residence, causing a police chase, then wrecking it while under the influence of alcohol on the 20thof July.
Honda Accord. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Michelle Long was at her property the day of the incident when she heard her vehicle started. As she went out to confirm it was hers, she saw it being pulled out of her driveway. Knowing she could not chase after it, she immediately contacted authorities to alert them that her 1997 Honda Accord was stolen.
Alamance County Sheriff’s Office and a deputy spotted the car on N.C. 87. They signaled the driver to pull over, instead he sped away leading police in a chase.
Locked in a police chase, the officer followed the fleeing vehicle that was traveling at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour until the driver lost control of the Accord. The Honda swerved off the highway then rolled over at least three times before it landed on its roof.
Christopher Baker a 19-year-old of Graham was the only person in the vehicle at the time. He crawled out from the overturned Honda and had a brazen conversation with the deputy according to The Times News.
“I’m drunker than hell,” Baker told the deputy. “I’m drunk and this isn’t my car. I’m going away for a long time, aren’t I?”
Breath-alcohol test results stated that Baker had blown a .10 according to court documents.
Baker was homeless at the time of the accident. Long had at a previous time loaned him the keys to her car but she had not given him permission to drive it that night, defense attorney Keisha Bluford allegedly told the publication.
Baker had no driving record before Tuesday’s conviction. He pleaded guilty for larceny of a motor vehicle, felony speeding to elude arrest and driving while impaired at Alamance County Superior Court.
Alamance County Assistant District Attorney Craig Thompson told the publication that Baker was on probation for a July 2 conviction of misdemeanor larceny. And the DWI carried three aggravating factors: that Baker’s driving was reckless and dangerous and that he was fleeing from law enforcement at the time.
Long’s Honda was totaled in the crash, but because restitution worksheets were not completed at the time of Tuesday’s hearing, Superior Court Judge R. Allen Baddour Jr. denied listening to any arguments regarding the monetary damage in the crash.
Contact us if your car has been in a theft drunken driver car crash, our attorneys may be able to get you the compensation from insurance companies that you need.
Reviewed by Chris H. in 2012.