The accident happened July 1st at Brooklyn and Covington Roads in Fort Wayne; the chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party crashed his car at a high rate of speed into a dumpster in the parking lot of the business beyond the T intersection.
The Muncie Star Press has reported that charges have now been filed in Allen County against Democratic Chairman Mike Quirk.
Douglas Walker and Keith Roysdon of the Star Press reported:
The wheels of justice apparently turn especially slowly in Allen County.
Last week, more than five months after that July 1 traffic accident in Fort Wayne that seriously injured Democratic Party Chairman Mike Quirk, related criminal charges were finally filed in an Allen County court.
The timing aside, it's hardly a surprising development, given the details of the one-vehicle accident that were released last summer, and the public apology a recuperating Quirk issued soon after.
The four charges -- two counts of driving while intoxicated (both stemming from the same incident), criminal recklessness and criminal mischief -- are all misdemeanors.
A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 30.
From the News-Sentinel article of July 4, 2011 by Elbert Starks III:
Michael P. Quirk, chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party, might have been going as fast as 101 mph just before the pickup he was driving struck a fence and crashed into a garbage container the night of July 1 – with his initial blood-alcohol content test recorded in a crash report at 0.36 percent, more than four times the legal limit.
According to the report released Friday by the Fort Wayne Police Department, the department's Fatal Alcohol Crash Team served a search warrant for the event data recorder and airbag module from the 2002 pickup that Quirk was found pinned inside at the crash site in the 2700 block of Brooklyn Avenue.
The recorder indicated that the pickup was going 93 mph at five seconds before impact, then 101 mph at one second before impact, with brakes either not being applied or applied just before contact was made with the garbage container. Investigators have said in prior news releases that they believe the truck was traveling east on Covington Road, then crossed Brooklyn, where it went into a gravel parking lot and struck the container.
The posted speed limit on Covington Road is 35 mph.
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