88-year-old driver makes first court appearance in Tour de Fat crash: faces vehicular homicide and six other charges
Van Lemaster, the 88-year-old driver who killed one person and injured six others during the Tour de Fat parade in downtown Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 29, appeared in court for the first time on October 22. The Fort Collins Coloradoan reported the hearing the same day.
Wearing a dark suit coat and jeans, Lemaster approached the podium with his attorney, who said his client had difficulty hearing and asked for a headset. The benches behind the podium were full of observers, but the hearing lasted less than five minutes. According to the arrest affidavit, on the morning of August 29, just after the annual Tour de Fat parade ended nearby and several hundred bicyclists were moving through Old Town Fort Collins, Lemaster left the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant and tried to back his Chevrolet Silverado out of a parking spot. He first struck a passing car, then shifted into drive and fully depressed the gas pedal, driving onto the sidewalk and hitting pedestrians before colliding with a tree. Joshua Robert Douglass, 33, of Denver, was killed; six others were injured, four seriously; Lemaster was also injured.
Prosecutors filed seven charges: one count of vehicular homicide (reckless driving), a Class 4 felony; four counts of vehicular assault (reckless driving), a Class 5 felony; and two counts of reckless endangerment, a Class 2 misdemeanor. Vehicular homicide carries two to six years in prison, up to 12 years with aggravating circumstances. Lemaster is free on a $75,000 personal recognizance bond, one condition of which is that he not operate a motor vehicle; his next court appearance is December 8. In a statement, his attorney said Lemaster had no ill will or criminal intent toward anyone that day and that what happened was a tragic accident in a chaotic and confusing situation.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 柯林斯堡老城区历史街区。摄影：Wusel007，CC BY-SA 3.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
