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| Boy's death second for driver |
| By FRANK CURRERI Richard McFadden, whose tractor trailer on Monday ran over a North Las Vegas boy, was involved in another fatal accident last year that killed a Las Vegas teen. But police investigators say the 57-year-old driver has not been reckless on the road, just unlucky. Authorities concluded after the Aug. 30, 2002, crash that the dead teenager, 16-year-old Ryan Sneed, caused the collision when he ran a stop sign about a mile from Centennial High School. North Las Vegas police said evidence gathered at the scene of Monday's fatality, at the intersection of Clayton Street and Gowan Road, indicates pedestrian error was to blame for the death of 10- year-old Jade Kilmer. "I feel sorry for him," Las Vegas police Detective Steve Winne, who probed last year's deadly crash, said of McFadden. "This guy just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time: two different times. And that's bizarre. That's what blows me away." Kilmer, who was headed home from school on in-lane skates, was struck and killed just outside a crosswalk. The child died in front of Pipes Paving, where McFadden works and across the street from the apartment complex where the boy lived. There was a four-way stop sign at the intersection. Police say there is nothing to suggest that McFadden violated any traffic laws. Officials with Pipes Paving declined to comment, and efforts to reach McFadden were not successful. Janelle Ozawa, mother of Jade and Lauren Ozawa, the Centennial students who were injured in last year's accident, said she was dismayed to learn of McFadden's involvement in another deadly accident. "My first impression was that this is horrible for this guy to have it happen again," Janelle Ozawa said. "This is the kind of thing that shatters people's lives. "We don't think it is great to have these trucks on the same roads as these kids they are driving to and from school. They have very limited peripheral view, and this is going to happen again." McFadden holds a valid class A commercial driver's license and has no moving violation convictions over the past three years, according to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. His driving history beyond that time period was unavailable. Officials have inspected McFadden's tractor trailer for possible defects and found "everything was good," said North Las Vegas police spokesman Justin Roberts. McFadden also was tested to see if drugs or alcohol were in his system. The results are still pending. McFadden passed the drug and alcohol tests after last year's accident, Winne said. Even when a motorist is not to blame for a fatal crash, they can be haunted by the tragedy, said Wayne Fortin, chief executive officer for Trauma Intervention Programs, a nationwide organization whose volunteer counselors help victims of tragedies. He said many such motorists find themselves thinking the same thought over and over: "I can't believe I just ran over and killed that kid." Many people try to console the motorists by telling them, "Well, at least you're OK," Fortin said. But even a motorist who emerges physically unscathed from a fatal accident often feels like a victim, Fortin said. Like any victim, that person needs a sympathetic ear. "This person has a story to tell and needs to be able to tell that story over and over again in detail. And, unfortunately, most people don't want to hear it," Fortin said. "So we try to identify somebody who wants to hear it." Winne said he and his colleagues have a combined 30-plus years investigating fatal crashes. In their collective memory, McFadden's misfortunes are in a class of their own. "Why wasn't it some other driver?" Winne asked. "Why was he at that particular place at that particular time, in both cases? Why wasn't it the car in front of him? "I think he's just unlucky," the detective said. "You've gotta feel for the guy." |
| ***Printed on December 12, 2003 |
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