Crosswalk death may bring charges
From Staff Reports
Tuesday, October 06, 2009 |
The Coos County District Attorney said he is awaiting reports from law enforcement before he will decide whether to criminally charge a Coos Bay man in a Sept. 17 pedestrian vs. vehicle crash that killed a French man.
Michel Bernard, 71, and Marie-Therese Pradel, both of France had been crossing at Sherman and Virginia avenues that day, when a Toyota 4Runner, driven by 24-year-old Jared Bechtel, struck them. Medics airlifted Bernard to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, where he died from complications of blunt force head injuries.
Pradel suffered only minor injuries.
North Bend Police Chief Steve Scibelli said Monday that his office is waiting for word from District Attorney R. Paul Frasier.
“That case has been referred to the DA for an evaluation to see if there’s some charge that would be levied that would be higher than the citation,” Scibelli said. “We’re waiting for their review, and then once we get their advice and counsel, we’ll take the other appropriate action.”
Bechtel has not been cited, and Frasier said he doesn’t know if he’ll face any criminal charges because he simply doesn’t have all of the information. He noted that one key document he needs is a crash reconstruction report from the Coos County Crash Team, which conducted the investigation.
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