A Maryland man whose hydroplaning tractor-trailer slammed into a Hanover County firetruck two years ago, killing one firefighter and injuring three others, was convicted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.
Lester Labarge, of California, Md., was driving the empty tractor-trailer south on Interstate 295 on the night of Oct. 11, 2018, when it struck the fire engine stopped at the scene of an accident, killing Lt. Brad Clark. Labarge faces up to 11 years in prison when sentenced Jan. 13 by Circuit Judge Patricia Kelly, who convicted him of both charges following a two-day trial.
Clark was 43 and lived in Mechanicsville.
The crash occurred in heavy rain and high winds generated by Tropical Storm Michael.
“The weather conditions were by far ... the worst I ever experienced while on duty,” Sgt. Matthew Jester, with the Virginia State Police, said during testimony.
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Just seconds prior to the crash, Clark’s truck had stopped at the scene of an earlier accident in the median. The fire engine was on the shoulder and partly in the left travel lane to block traffic. Clark and other fighters had left the fire engine to assist with the accident when Labarge’s truck rear-ended it.
Three other firefighters were injured, two of them hospitalized.
Technical evidence brought up by the defense — including so-called black box data — indicated that Labarge was traveling from 49 mph to 57 mph when the crash occurred.
Labarge, however, told state police at the hospital that night and again in testimony Wednesday that he was traveling at 60 mph to 65 mph in the 70 mph zone.
He said he was driving in the right center lane when his truck was buffeted by strong wind. He steered toward the left center lane to counter the wind and then spotted the brightly lit firetruck. When he attempted to move back to the right center lane his truck hydroplaned and he lost all control, unable to steer or brake.
County emergency personnel in an ambulance responding to the scene of the first crash that night testified that two tractor-trailers passed them on the right. Labarge was driving one of two trucks traveling together from Springfield to Chester to pick up a load of water.
Labarge testified that he did not pass any emergency vehicle but that he could see emergency lights behind him on the highway.
Pointing out a number of discrepancies in Labarge’s accounts, Stephen B. Royalty, the assistant commonwealth’s attorney prosecuting the case, argued to Kelly in closing, “His credibility is suspect.”
“That Engine 6 was out there flashing its lights to the world,” Royalty said. Labarge was driving 60 to 65 mph in high wind and rain and changed lanes toward an emergency vehicle, said the prosecutor.
Royalty said, “If that is not criminal negligence, your honor, I don’t know what is.”
Defense attorney Theodore Bruns countered: “There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that he lied about anything.” He acknowledged there was testimony that Labarge was driving much faster, but that the available data belied it, indicating Labarge was driving 20 mph under the speed limit.
“It is unbiased, it is unchallenged and it is compelling,” Bruns argued. “There is no doubt at all, your honor, that what happened here was a catastrophic, tragic event.” But, he said, criminal conduct was not involved.
Royalty, however, told the judge that Labarge said, “He wanted to move over to give the firefighters their space. That’s the crux of the case: He did not give them their space.”
Given the weather, Royalty said, “he had no business being out there whatsoever.”