C-R700

Baxter Man Pleads Guilty In Fatal Hit-And-Run
(posted 3/29/2006) View all News Items
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DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Jasper County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunken driving charges after allegedly hitting a man near Ankeny.

The hit-and-run crash killed Brian Shaver of Ankeny. Shaver was riding his bicycle one morning last September.

Jade Perry, of Baxter, pleaded guilty Wednesday to vehicular homicide by OWI. The charge means Perry admits being drunk when he hit Shaver, left him to die and took his bicycle.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of leaving the scene.

Perry gets a 25-year prison sentence and must serve at least 17½ years.

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webist

I must admit, I am surprised at the severity of the sentence. Nothing compensates or punishes sufficiently to satisfy the loss felt by the victim or the family, but this sentence is quite a bit harsher than some.

Az B

He took his bike? wtf?

Az

DavidLee

My guess is the prosecutor took what they thought would get the most prison time? If it were me I would have charged him with the DUI, hit & run, manslaughter, theft & I would have determined the value of the bike to see if theft could move to "grand larceny".

C-R700

The guy took the bike and left the guy for dead. Don't know if he was dead at the time he took the bike. He ditched the bike a few miles down the road.

The procesuter plea bargained the case. It was an easy case. Drunk driving, plenty witnesses identfied the guy drinking all night. The acident happened about 4:30 AM. I was sad to see a plea occur on this case.

bikingshearer 

No, with this result, better the DA pleaded it out. A 25 year sentence with a 17.5 year minimum served is pretty severe. Doing it this way spares the family the unpleasantness of a trial, and one can hardly say this doesn't send a message that you better not try to pull a hit-and-run, at least in that part of Iowa. (And a cyclist gets some after-the-fact respect as someone deserving of being on the road - methinks I smell some RAGBRAI rub-off effect. Good.) Had it been six months in the county lock-up, I'd feel differently. But this strikes me as the right result, all things considered.

As for the severity of the sentence, it is well-deserved. The driver was drunk. He left the guy to die. He not only did nothing to help his victim, he stole the guy's bike and dumped it down the rode to try to hide evidence. That is pretty calculated, not to mention cold-blooded. That kind of behavior needs to treated harshly - not because he killed a cyclist, but because he killed a human being through a series of grossly antisocial, borderline sociopathic actions that any ten year old knows are flat-out wrong. The fact that it was a cyclist who died obviously strikes us a little closer to home, but it's the overarching inhumanity of this guy that will and should keep him behind bars until 2023.

jeff-o

Prosecutors tend to be real harsh when there is alcohol involved. I wonder what would have happened if the guy hadn't been drunk, and didn't flee the scene?

ME.Alex

I hope he dies with a belly full of prison **** semen

Harsh? Rightly so.

John E

1) This is NOT an unduly harsh sentence.
2) I remain proud to be a dues-paying, longstanding member of MADD.

derath

It would be treated as any other accident, like when someone accidentally hits a pedestrian? Involuntary manslaughter or something like that I would guess?

-D

N_C

The sentance is still not enough. He should get life with out the possibility of parole. I can't believe some of you think the sentance is good enough. It is no where near enough. This jackass decided to drink, then get behind the wheel of a car & as a result killed someone.

Everyone knows as well as I do if it was a female cyclist, a female pedestrian, a woman in her car, or a woman with kids in her car the sentence would have been way more severe then it is. The punishment may have even been more severe if it was a male pedestrian, or a guy with kids in the car. But no, not when it is a guy on a bicycle. When someone like that is killed they go easy on the person who killed him.

Blue Order

Well said.

becnal

Gawd DAMN son! Sad story, all around.

operator

If it wasn't for the cover up part, i'd say it was a teeny bit harsh. But after said fact, not at all. Not at all.

jwbnyc

Uh... He left the guy to die!?

What happens if he stops and calls Emergency Services?

He stopped long enough to remove evidence from the scene: that was no problem.

Was an anonymous phone call to 911 too much to ask?

Apparently it was.

Could Mr. Shaver have lived if this guy had anything like a conscience?

The logic the DA's office utilized to get to this one escapes me.

This is a travesty.

slvoid

Good.

John E

Several years ago, in Marin County, northern California, Michele Young ran over Cece Krone, who had stopped to rest on the dirt shoulder, well outside the travel lane. This 10 a.m. incident, which triggered Ms. Young's second DUI conviction, resulted in a 7-year sentence with provision for early parole. In my book, this was far too lenient a sentence, even though the defense attorney said, "I hope the judge is pleased with himself for sending a 50-year-old housewife to jail."

sentinel4675

I think the sentence is pretty good compared to sentences given in my neck of the woods. I investigated a fatal crash this past August. Female drunk driver, second DUI, ran a red light. Victim had the green light and was struck in the passenger door and killed the driver. She also injured severely her passenger. She got 6 years, 2 in jail and 4 suspended. 17 years is a very good sentence.

huhenio

10 AM DUI? Well ... depression leads to alcoholism and for sure the lady - or by extensions most people - do not wake up in the morning and say "hey ... I want to kill a random person on a bicycle".

John E

We have a huge national problem with alcohol-related traffic deaths. Anyone CHOOSING to drive while inebriated is committing a crime; we need an effective deterrent.

I was pleased to read that the current Miss America is going to do publicity work for MADD:

https://support.madd.org/site/PageSer...rwpqsm5.app14b

sentinel4675

I've been in law enforcement for 15 plus years, any suggestions anyone has are welcome.

mrkott3r

To you guys saying it is excessive punishment. He knew what happens when your drunk and you drive. It isn't a mystery or some secret the alcohol manufactures are keeping you from. If your drunk you can't drive. I have no sympathy for people who drink and drive. They get what they deserve.
To sentinel in Aus the way we changed attitude to drink driving took a long time. (I wasnt born at the time) I think it took the best part of the 70's and early 80's before attitudes changed. It was done by education (we still have ads on tv against drink driving issued by the government. they go along the lines of: drink drive - you idiot) and harsher penalties and actual enforcement. Every public holiday weekend the police are out in force. they set up along main arterial roads and breath test everyone (except taxi drivers) and I mean everyone. they also set up around the side streets of their main setup to test people who think they are getting away. Friday and Saturday night there is a high police presence and a lot of weekends they launch a blitz and pretty much what they do on Public Holidays. As you know police are pretty annoyed working on public holidays and weekend nights so anyone breaking the law is dealt with.
It has taken a long time for attitudes to change in this country. But to most people now drink driving is viewed darkly upon in our society.

EDIT: I forgot to mention double demerits on public holidays. Basically if your caught speeding the loss of demerit points doubles.
To be classified as a drunk driver in Aus you only need to be over a BAC of .05. Drivers on permit plates and learners must a have zero BAC now as well.
Expanding on the punishments, here is the site (for NSW) on what penalties you get if caught
Even low range drink driving and is your first offence you still lose your license for at least 3 months up to six months and get fined $AU1100

sentinel4675

mrkott,
I wish some things were that strict here. I don't know if I like the idea of breath testing everyone driving down the road. We need to have probable cause to administer the tests. We do a continuing effort in the media, I, myself, have been on TV numerous times talking about it. Some people just never learn.

SamHouston

The defense attorney said that AFTER verdict and sentencing? What a tool. Judge did her a favour, being so lenient. Some people have to hit rock bottom before they realize what a mess they are and opt for change, I suppose the defense attorney would feel better if his client could go on killing until that happened.

goldngal65

Unfortunately, Mr Perry did not serve his full sentence. He was released last year sometime. So, he is now out on the roads to do this to someone else. Nice how they say he will serve a minimum sentence, and he didn't even complete that. What kind of message is that for criminals???