Driver Faces Trial in Fatal Fort Myers DUI Car Accident That Killed Soldier
A 26-year-old Florida woman driver charged with DUI manslaughter in a fatal Fort Myers car crash that left an Iraq war veteran dead is scheduled to go on trial in September.
According to news reports, Army Staff Sgt. Danny Beougher was driving his Jeep Cherokee on Hancock Bridge Parkway in North Fort Myers, Florida, on the evening of Dec. 8, 2007. A Ford F-350, driven by Ashley East, crossed the meridian, hit a tree, and struck Beougher's vehicle. Staff Sgt. Beougher was killed and his wife was critically injured.
Florida Drunk Driving Death Statistics
In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that of the 2,978 Florida traffic fatalities that occurred that year, 875 deaths were classified as "alcohol-impaired fatalities" -- involving all car and motorcycle drivers with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) above the legal limit of .08 percent. (NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts Florida 2004-2008)
A Fort Myers accident lawyer familiar with drunk driving laws and driver liability may be consulted by families in cases where an innocent person is hurt or killed due to another driver's negligence or recklessness.
In this fatal DUI case, the driver, Ms. East, is set to go to trial in September. She faces 10 charges, including leaving the scene of an accident causing death and DUI manslaughter. She may face up to 70 years in prison if convicted. Investigators at the time reported that East did not have a valid driver's license. Staff Sgt. Beougher, who was 23, had returned home to Cape Coral, Florida, after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was an 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper.
Fatal North Fort Myers crash case goes to trial in Sept.
News-Press.com July 29, 2009
82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper dies in Traffic Accident
Paratrooper.net Dec. 10, 2007
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