Teh One Who Knocks
12-03-2015, 01:37 PM
By Nik Bonopartis - Opposing Views
http://i.imgur.com/89IVmiF.jpg
A Minnesota teenager was texting on Facebook and told a friend she "didn't care if she crashed" just minutes before she allegedly killed a father and his 10-year-old daughter after running a red light.
A police investigation found that Carlee R. Bollig was using her smartphone to chat on Facebook, exchanging "multiple electronic messages" for eight minutes leading up to the July 21 crash while she was behind the wheel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. A more in-depth forensic analysis showed Bollig was posting to Facebook "just seconds" before she rammed into the minivan.
One of Bollig's passengers, 17-year-old Caysi J. Jaronske, told police she begged her friend to stop texting while she was driving the pickup truck, but Bollig refused, telling Jaronske she didn't care if she caused an accident and eventually snapping at her friend, telling her to "--- off," according to the Tribune.
As Bollig approached an intersection with her face still buried in her smartphone, her three passengers gave her a final warning, yelling "Red light! Red light!" But Bollig never applied her brakes, police said, and she drove through the intersection, striking the driver's side of the minivan.
http://i.imgur.com/cRi0Enc.jpg
Inside that van was Charles P. Maurer, 54, his 10-year-old daughter Cassy, 16-year-old daughter Alenita, and friend Alora K. Nelson, 15. Alenita and Alora survived, but Charles and Cassy were rushed to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, with grave injuries. Charles Maurer died later that night, the Tribune reported, while Cassy died 10 days later of severe head injuries.
An unrepentant Bollig schemed to lie her way out of the situation, cops said: She convinced one of her passengers, 18-year-old George E. Saldana, to lie on her behalf, then Bollig and Saldana plotted to blame the crash on Bollig's boyfriend, Deven M. Garlock, 18, because he was the only one in the pickup with a valid drivers license.
At the scene, Bollig and her sister, Caysi J. Jaronske, 17, refused to answer questions as instructed by their mother and an attorney, the Tribune reported. Inside the pickup was a bag belonging to Bollig, which contained synthetic marijuana, a pipe and a digital scale, according to court documents. A second pipe was found on the front passenger seat, although authorities have not accused Bollig of being intoxicated during the crash.
Regardless, police said texting while driving is a distraction that can be just as deadly as driving drunk or high.
“What a senseless behavior that caused all of this trauma to this family, using a phone while operating a motor vehicle, 3000 pounds of mass through an intersection, tearing this family apart,” Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Tiffany Schweigart told CBS Minnesota.
After testing blood from inside the crashed pickup, investigators realized Bollig had lied to them, and she was the one behind the wheel, not her boyfriend, the Star Tribune reported. Bollig now faces charges of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation, as well as driving without a valid license, authorities said.
At least 70 deaths per year in Minnesota are attributed to distracted or inattentive drivers, according to the state's Department of Public Safety, but the agency warns those numbers are likely "vastly underreported" because it's often difficult for investigators to prove a driver was definitively distracted.
Nationally, 3,154 people were killed by distracted drivers in 2013, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, and more than 424,000 people were injured in crashes caused by driver inattention.
http://i.imgur.com/89IVmiF.jpg
A Minnesota teenager was texting on Facebook and told a friend she "didn't care if she crashed" just minutes before she allegedly killed a father and his 10-year-old daughter after running a red light.
A police investigation found that Carlee R. Bollig was using her smartphone to chat on Facebook, exchanging "multiple electronic messages" for eight minutes leading up to the July 21 crash while she was behind the wheel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. A more in-depth forensic analysis showed Bollig was posting to Facebook "just seconds" before she rammed into the minivan.
One of Bollig's passengers, 17-year-old Caysi J. Jaronske, told police she begged her friend to stop texting while she was driving the pickup truck, but Bollig refused, telling Jaronske she didn't care if she caused an accident and eventually snapping at her friend, telling her to "--- off," according to the Tribune.
As Bollig approached an intersection with her face still buried in her smartphone, her three passengers gave her a final warning, yelling "Red light! Red light!" But Bollig never applied her brakes, police said, and she drove through the intersection, striking the driver's side of the minivan.
http://i.imgur.com/cRi0Enc.jpg
Inside that van was Charles P. Maurer, 54, his 10-year-old daughter Cassy, 16-year-old daughter Alenita, and friend Alora K. Nelson, 15. Alenita and Alora survived, but Charles and Cassy were rushed to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, with grave injuries. Charles Maurer died later that night, the Tribune reported, while Cassy died 10 days later of severe head injuries.
An unrepentant Bollig schemed to lie her way out of the situation, cops said: She convinced one of her passengers, 18-year-old George E. Saldana, to lie on her behalf, then Bollig and Saldana plotted to blame the crash on Bollig's boyfriend, Deven M. Garlock, 18, because he was the only one in the pickup with a valid drivers license.
At the scene, Bollig and her sister, Caysi J. Jaronske, 17, refused to answer questions as instructed by their mother and an attorney, the Tribune reported. Inside the pickup was a bag belonging to Bollig, which contained synthetic marijuana, a pipe and a digital scale, according to court documents. A second pipe was found on the front passenger seat, although authorities have not accused Bollig of being intoxicated during the crash.
Regardless, police said texting while driving is a distraction that can be just as deadly as driving drunk or high.
“What a senseless behavior that caused all of this trauma to this family, using a phone while operating a motor vehicle, 3000 pounds of mass through an intersection, tearing this family apart,” Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Tiffany Schweigart told CBS Minnesota.
After testing blood from inside the crashed pickup, investigators realized Bollig had lied to them, and she was the one behind the wheel, not her boyfriend, the Star Tribune reported. Bollig now faces charges of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation, as well as driving without a valid license, authorities said.
At least 70 deaths per year in Minnesota are attributed to distracted or inattentive drivers, according to the state's Department of Public Safety, but the agency warns those numbers are likely "vastly underreported" because it's often difficult for investigators to prove a driver was definitively distracted.
Nationally, 3,154 people were killed by distracted drivers in 2013, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, and more than 424,000 people were injured in crashes caused by driver inattention.