Today’s edition of the Oregonian has more coverage of the collision that claimed the life of Brett Jarolimek.
One of their stories, Truck driver has checkered record, reports that the driver of the garbage truck has had, “…a string of run-ins with police, including 25 convictions for speeding, driving without a license and other traffic violations.”
The story details says he had “an assortment of charges, including speeding, violation the basic [speed] rule and failure to obey a traffic signal”. According to Oregonian reporter Helen Jung, his troubles began in 1988 and his most recent conviction came in March of this year.
Lieutenant Mark Kruger is quoted in the story as saying, “That stuff is largely irrelevant to the investigation…We’re not the issuing authority of licenses. We only enforce the law.”
I’m not a legal expert, but I would imagine that this guy’s record would/should play a part in the District Attorney’s review of the Police’s investigation of the crash. (Can any lawyers chime in here?)
Here’s another part of the story that caught my attention:
“Richard Lowes, Bryan Lowes’ father, said Tuesday that his son was unavailable for comment because he was sleeping in preparation for an early-morning work shift.”
Does that mean he’s still driving?
*UPDATE: Here’s a comment that just came in from someone claiming to be a driver for AGG Enterprises:
“I want to put it out there right now. I work for AGG and can say that as of Monday Bryan was giving time off pending the outcomes of all the investigations. The Oregonian got it wrong. We all realize that people are upset and that is understandable. But since Monday many drivers have experienced middle fingers, and rocks being thrown at our trucks (from bicyclist). We are out there trying to make a living and feed our children. This is a tragedy and we all feel horrible but the violence is not the answer.”