Manslaughter charge for young man who struck and killed Drake Okusako
Thanks to the folks who sent dozing Tucsonbikelawyer this article, from todays Daily Star:
Teen driver in fatal Tucson bike wreck faces additional charges
By Kim Smith
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.09.2009
A 19-year-old Tucson man is now facing additional charges in connection with last month’s death of a 55-year-old bicyclist.
Last month, Jesse James Segebartt was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an injury accident after colliding with Drake G. Okusako near East Broadway and Alvernon Way. However, a Pima County grand jury indicted Segebartt on manslaughter and leaving the scene after causing a fatal crash charges on Monday.
Segebartt remains in the Pima County jail on $100,000 bond.
I am thankful that the County Attorney’s Office has taken an interest in giving this fellow more than a slap on the wrist.
–Erik Ryberg
June 9th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I’m glad to see responsibility actually being placed on the driver involved in a fatal accident for once.
June 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
What makes this case so different from the others where reckless drivers kill and maim and there is little to no punishment?
June 9th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
d, the cynic in me says that what makes this case different is the fact that the driver is really easy to pick on. He was uninsured and on a suspended license, young and unruly, and he fled the scene. The man he hit was well-loved in the community. Glenda Rumsey got the same treatment, remember, as did the woman who hit Paul L’Ecuyer. These people are easy to go after. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be gone after. I just think we need to protect all bicyclists who get hit, no matter who hits them. That doesn’t mean long prison sentences in every case, but I don’t see why people should be back on the road the next morning without any charges at all.
Overall, I am pleased that the local authorities are taking this more seriously than some other opportunities they have had to do so.
EBR
June 9th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
EBR writes:
“I just think we need to protect all bicyclists who get hit, no matter who hits them.”
Ummm…it’s a bit late to protect Drake (or most any other bicyclist who gets hit).
June 9th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Red Star, I wasn’t talking about Drake. Maybe I didn’t make clear in the post that I think TPD and the Pima County Attorney are doing all they can in that case. I am talking about the people who come into my office who have been hit or even deliberately assaulted and for whom TPD is doing nothing. I have written about many of these people on my Website.
EBR
June 9th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Erik, don’t feed the troll.
June 9th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I am also relieved to see this being treating very seriously. I know that Drake’s brother’s heart was in the right place when he said he didn’t want to see the driver’s young life ruined, but I can’t agree with his implication that the driver shouldn’t be punished or should be punished very lightly. Those of us that are still alive to ride to work another day in Tucson can only be helped every time law enforcement comes down hard on negligent drivers.
Mindy
June 9th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
The important time to do the work of protecting bicyclists is before the bicyclist gets hit. The education that drivers receive about bikes and traffic needs to be increased. Driving a car should be more of a privilege than a right.
I don’t think that sending this young man to jail for a very long time is going to help. It is too late to help Drake. I don’t really know what to do with the driver. I do want him to understand the repercussions of his actions.
Part of the consequences of Jesse going to jail is that his family goes with him. I spend part of my job talking to the mothers and other family members of kids who have done bad things and it is very hard on them too. When you punish one person, you are punishing a lot of other people too.
The threat of a long jail sentence does little to deter someone from doing something stupid. If it were, there would be a lot fewer people in prison.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:35 am
When society and law enforcement agree that a behavior is intolerable and take strong actions against it, that behavior does decrease. We’ve seen it with drunk driving. Drunk drivers who injure or kill others are publicly humiliated and generally despised, and drunk driving fatalities have been decreasing for several years, despite more cars than ever being on the road and alcohol being as popular as ever. The day that inattentive and reckless drivers are subjected to that same type of public censure and outrage is the day that the roads become safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
This indictment by a Tucson grand jury is a victory for everybody who is concerned about safety on Tucson’s streets.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:36 am
“The threat of a long jail sentence does little to deter someone from doing something stupid. If it were, there would be a lot fewer people in prison.”
Yes but it keeps people with out a DL off the road, by force and for good reason.
I suggest until the investigation is done the person who hit the bicyclist should have their DL suspended. This would be the incentive not to hit any cyclists.
If it is the motorist’s fault an automatic 6 month DL suspension. No work permit, make them bike around our use the bus. You could have time served if the investigation takes a long time.
I would like to see community service at BICAS also.
Every one who gets a DL should have to pass a bicycle test. A pedal assist could be provided to those who don’t want to pedal.
I agree we need a better system.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I think reckless drivers should have to do community service in the emergency room of a hospital. That would bring the safety message home in a more direct manner.
I definitely believe in taking people’s licenses away.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Of course the driver should be prosecuted. But sadly, I feel no joy. No one wins–there are only losers.
I am still waiting for justice in the Allen Johnson case. There does not seem to be any news. Did the perp lawyer up?
June 10th, 2009 at 10:44 am
In the current Tucson world, there are
hundreds of thousands of drivers with
little education about traffic or bikes.
They have no clue where the right side
of their car is and consider cyclists
to be little more than road debris.
Maybe I exaggerate.
But when do we exact the consequences for
socially intolerable behavior?
Do we treat Tuitama, who today it is
reported is on his second round of
‘education’ about DUI, to the same
consequences as Segebartt currently
faces?
The key element of consequences is the
education that takes place when facing
tolerance or intolerance to specific
social behavior.
The argument is that tolerating
Tuitama today will likely cost us
another Drake in the future.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Jeff Says:
June 9th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
‘The important time to do the work of protecting bicyclists is before the bicyclist gets hit.”
Thanks Jeff! Serious activism proceeds relentlessly on all fronts, even obtaining clarification of the lawyer’s thoughts. And the lawyer’s work. Why, there’s even a place for callow grasping comments such as josh’s “Erik, don’t feed the troll.” (June 9th, 2009 at 4:48 pm )
Anyway, today we wonder whatever happened to:
http://www.ghostbikes.org/tucson
Where there doesn’t seem to much going on (odd, in light of all the recent deaths, mishaps and mayhem).
June 10th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I second what Mindy says. If there are consequences for a driver who hits a cyclist, and these consequences are publicized as part of that education we all support, cycling will get more safe. Conversely, if victims &/or their relatives/ colleagues do nothing, i.e., if collisions causers suffer no appropriate consequences, we will be less safe.
Which makes me curious as to whether there are ever civil suits in cycling collisions, and if so, what are the results?
June 11th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Yesterday (Weds) on the way home, west on Broadway between Tucson and Campbell, I was almost right hooked by a young woman in a white new beetle. Gave her a good loud blast from the AirZound air horn, but I doubt she even noticed, she was talking on a phone!! Police car passed me immediately after, I wondered, “hey, ossifer, did you see that?”. Of course he didn’t, because HE was talking on a phone! SHEESH!!!
June 11th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Red Star- The Ghost Bike project is still underway in Tucson as Erik reported last month:
http://www.tucsonbikelawyer.com/allen-johnson-ghost-bike-installed/
Painting the Ghost Bikes, anchoring the bike in concrete, and transporting them to the memorial site is a process that takes significant effort and time. I heard word of one being worked on down at BICAS last weekend…probably for Drake.
April 18th, 2010 at 10:37 am
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