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Published in the Southwest Virginia Today, VA - February 14, 2008
A judge on Thursday increased the bond of a man charged in two alcohol-related incidents, one of which, police said, left a Virginia State Trooper seriously injured earlier this month.
Smyth County General District Court Judge Sage B. Johnson increased to $25,000 a previous $13,000 bond on which Barry Wayne Marshall II, 32, of Abingdon, was released from the Abingdon Regional Jail Feb. 3.
Johnson also ordered home arrest for Marshall unless he finds employment, and Marshall’s submission to random drug tests. Marshall was suspended without pay from his job as a soft drink distribution route driver, he said, after taking the stand in his defense. He said he has 30 days to resolve the charges or face job termination.
Johnson said since Marshall has posted $3,000 of the previous bond, in effect Thursday’s ruling increased it by $22,000.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Roy Evans filed a motion asking the court to revoke Marshall’s bond Feb. 4.
Police charged Marshall with driving under the influence Feb. 1. Police said he was the driver of the pickup that struck and severely injured Virginia State Police Trooper Kris Chapman as he sat in his cruiser on the shoulder of Interstate 81 at Seven Mile Ford. Chapman had stopped another driver for a traffic violation, police said.
Marshall was released after posting a $1,500 bond, an Abingdon Regional Jail spokesman said.
Marshall was charged early Feb 3 with public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance, according to his arrest warrants. Marshall was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Traci Tashona Peake, 21, of Radford, who was charged with driving under the influence, police said.
Marshall’s attorney, Don McGlothlin of Lebanon, said in closing statements that the controlled possession charge resulted from Marshall’s having one pill of the painkiller Lortab in his pocket.
McGlothlin argued it would not be unusual for a person to have Lortab in the wake of an automobile wreck. Marshall, he said, sustained injuries to his head, chest and face in the collision with Chapman’s car.
Later that day, Marshall was released on a new $13,000 bond, an Abingdon Regional Jail spokesman said. Smyth County Commonwealth’s Attorney Roy Evans sought to revoke that bond.
A bond hearing set for Feb. 11 in Smyth County General District Court was continued to Valentine’s Day after McGlothlin asked Judge Johnson for a continuance in a Feb. 8 conference call.
VSP spokesman Sgt. Michael Conroy said Thursday that Chapman is out of intensive care and in a private room in Bristol Regional Medical Center and beginning rehabilitation.
Dexter Tenney, donor services supervisor at Johnston Memorial Hospital Blood Bank, said Thursday a special blood drive is set for Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. at the Marion Life Saving Crew on Park Street in Marion. The drive was requested by Division IV State Troopers in honor of Chapman.
A barbecue is planned by Food City with drinks provided by Pepsi-Cola. A donation of $6 per plate is requested.
All proceeds will benefit Chapman and family, Tenney said. Calls for information may be directed to Tenney at 276-676-6618 or Senior Trooper Rex Carter at 866-877-2329.
Published in the Southwest Virginia Today, VA - February 5, 2008
A prosecutor filed a motion Monday to revoke bond on a man arrested twice in 27 hours, then released both times on bond, in alcohol-related incidents—one of which left a Virginia State Trooper seriously injured.
Smyth County Commonwealth’s Attorney Roy Evans is seeking to revoke the bond of Barry Dean Marshall II, 32, of 18042 Black Hollow Road, Abingdon, and send him back to jail.
Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Conroy said Marshall crashed his Ford F-150 pickup into Trooper Kris Chapman’s cruiser while he was working a traffic stop on the shoulder of Interstate 81 at the 38-mile marker at Seven Mile Ford just before 11 p.m. Friday.
Chapman had stopped another driver for a traffic violation and was parked on the right shoulder of I-81’s southbound lanes, according to Conroy. Chapman had issued a traffic violation and was sitting in his car when Marshall rammed into the rear of his cruiser before Chapman had secured his safety belt, Conroy said.
The crash forced Chapman’s cruiser across the southbound lanes as well, and it came to a halt in the median, he said.
Marshall’s pickup truck then crossed back over the southbound lanes and overturned in the median, coming to rest upside down, the sergeant said.
The car that Chapman had stopped was just pulling away and the driver witnessed the crash in a rearview mirror, Conroy said.
Police charged Marshall with driving under the influence, Conroy said. He later was released after posting a $1,500 bond, an Abingdon Regional Jail spokesman said.
Chapman was transported by a medical helicopter to Bristol Regional Medical Center. Marshall, who had only minor injuries, was taken by ambulance to Smyth County Community Hospital, where he was treated and released, according to a news release from the VSP.
More charges related to the crash are pending, the VSP said.
Just barely more than a day later and two miles from the first incident on I-81, Chilhowie police officer Kevin Testerman stopped a vehicle shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday after the department received a tip about a drunk driver, Conroy said.
Marshall was a passenger in the vehicle and Testerman charged him with public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance, according to his arrest warrants.
Testerman charged the driver, Traci Tashona Peake, 21, of Radford, with driving under the influence.
After the Friday crash, Don Morrell of Southeastern Bail Bonds posted Marshall’s $1,500 bond, but revoked it Sunday on learning of Marshall’s additional charges and Chapman’s condition, Morrell said.
“We went off the bond this morning after we found out the trooper was in serious condition,” Morrell said.
But on Sunday, another bond company, whose identity was not confirmed, posted Marshall’s new $13,000 bond and Marshall was released from the Abingdon Regional Jail, a jail spokesman said.
“We’re moving the court to revoke the bond, and that was filed today, based on the fact that he committed another crime, allegedly,” Evans said Monday.
He would not speculate as to why a magistrate set bond a second time.
A judge will decide whether to revoke the bond during a hearing Feb. 11 in General District Court. Until then, Marshall will remain free.
Evans said bond is an “implied position of good behavior,” and that the second set of charges could revoke his right to remain free.
Reached at his home Tuesday, Marshall declined comment.
A search of court records in both Smyth County and Washington County, where Marshall lives, showed that this is the first time he has faced alcohol-related charges here. Prior to the weekend, Marshall had only been charged with three minor traffic violations, two for speeding and one for failure to wear a safety belt. One of the speeding charges was dismissed after Marshall completed driving school.
No charges related to the crash and injury of Chapman have been filed. Evans said police are awaiting information on the status of the injured trooper.
Chapman, 30, of Chilhowie, remained in stable but serious condition Monday at Bristol Regional Medical Center, according to State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Conroy. Chapman is married and has two children.
Evans said he had been “in touch with Kris over the weekend and he’s improving.”
He said there is a maiming DUI statute in Virginia that Marshall could be charged with if Chapman’s injuries turn out to be permanent.
A court date on Marshall’s DUI charge has been set for March 20.
Chapman’s family issued a statement through Conroy on Monday thanking “the Virginia State Police, sheriff’s office, local police, fire, rescue squads, Med-Flight, and the staff at Bristol Regional Hospital for their excellent and rapid response to his injuries and support during [Chapman’s] ordeal.”
“The family has been touched by and appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers for Trooper Chapman during this difficult time,” Conroy said.
Chilhowie and Smyth County EMS, the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office, Town of Marion Police Department and the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control assisted at the scene of Friday’s crash.
The interstate was closed temporarily Sunday morning and traffic diverted off Exit 39 at Seven Mile Ford as investigators examined the scene of Friday night’s wreck, Conroy said. The diversion permitted officials to work in relative safety that is not always available to officers.
Working as a trooper is a dangerous job, Conroy said.
“More officers are injured in traffic crashes than anything else,” he said. “Most of the time that crash is preventable.”
Conroy said stopping a car on the side of the road can be very dangerous, and he emphasized the importance of the state’s Move Over Law, which was approved by the General Assembly five years ago. It requires motorists to slow down and change lanes if possible when passing a roadside car, he said.
“This is the second Virginia State Police trooper in four months to be struck and seriously injured by a drunk driver,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Impaired drivers put every motorist’s life at risk, including the lives of our public safety professionals.”
VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Monday that incident happened in mid-October, in a Virginia Department of Transportation bridge work zone “at the opposite end of the state” from the Seven Mile Ford crash. The Robert O. Norris Memorial Bridge “carries Route 3 across the Rappahannock River between White Stone and Grey’s Point in Middlesex County,” a VDOT release said.
“Trooper Troy Smith was in his vehicle in the work zone, parked next to a VDOT truck with his lights activated,” Geller said.
Troopers sometimes run their flashing blue lights to alert motorists to the presence of workers.
Smith’s car was struck by a drunk driver driving a “GMC Jimmy that came through the barrels,” hitting Smith “head-on.”
Smith returned to light duty in January, Geller said.
Drunk Driver Critically Injures VSP Trooper on Interstate 81
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