Donovan Webster – C-VILLE Weekly

In brief: Longer morning commute, longer recess, a long journey and more

Bridging the gap

The public got to weigh in on a major bridge replacement project on Route 250 in Ivy, and it picked closing the main thoroughfare west of town for two weeks rather than reducing the flow to a one-lane road with a traffic signal for three months. Those two weeks in July are upon us starting Friday the 13th.

The 1932-built bridge over Little Ivy Creek in the heart of Ivy is deficient, says VDOT, and it carries approximately 11,500 vehicles a day.

Using accelerated construction techniques, four precast box culverts and incentives, Burleigh Construction has a nearly $1.3 million contract, with a $25,000 bonus if the bridge is substantially complete and open July 27, and a $15,000-a-day sweetener for every day it’s open before July 27. If not substantially complete, it will cost Burleigh $15,000 for every day after July 27 the bridge is closed.

VDOT is urging drivers to use I-64 during construction, and warning the interstate will be pretty clogged with the extra traffic during commute times. Cross streets and private entrances on either side of the Route 250 bridge will be open, but traffic will not be able to cross the bridge.

At least school is not in session, which is why July was picked for the work.

Another new chief

Northwestern University Police Chief Tommye S. Sutton will take the reins of the UVA Police Department from retiring Chief Mike Gibson on August 1. In law enforcement since 1982, Sutton is known for mandating training on mental health first aid and fairness, inclusion and understanding bias at the private university based in Illinois.

Bannon’s bookstore barrage

A Richmond bookstore owner is under scrutiny for calling the police on a woman who accosted former White House strategist Steve Bannon at Black Swan Books. Owner Nick Cooke told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Bannon “was simply standing, looking at books, minding his own business,” when the woman called him “a piece of trash” on July 7. Said Cooke, “Bookshops are all about ideas and tolerating different opinions and not about verbally assaulting somebody.”

Donovan Webster dies

A journalist whose work appeared in National Geographic, the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine and many others died July 4 at age 59. Webster was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the August 2014 drunk-driving crash that killed 75-year-old Waynesboro man Wayne Thomas White Sr. and was sentenced to 10 years in prison with eight suspended.

Coke choker

Virginia State Police are investigating a drug raid gone wrong in Waynesboro, where members of the Skyline Drug Task Force and SWAT team encountered 52-year-old William Tucker forcing a bag filled with a white, powdery substance into his mouth, and allegedly refusing their aid when it became lodged in his throat. Police believe Tucker choked on a bag of cocaine, but the exact amount he ingested is still being investigated.

Murder conviction

Nineteen-year-old Hasaun Stinnie was found guilty of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony July 6, for allegedly shooting and killing 45-year-old Brooklyn, New York, man Shawn Evan “Lucky” Davis in September in a parking lot on South First Street. Stinnie accused Davis, who was dating his sister, of beating her. He fired his revolver five times, hitting Davis in the left arm and chest. A jury recommended he serve eight years.

New laws

July 1 always brings the latest legislation passed into law by the General Assembly. Here’s what citizens can now look forward to:

Raccoon hunting after 2am Sunday.
Grand larceny felony threshold upped from $200 to $500. To get this, the House had to pass a couple of Rob Bell’s
victim restitution bills.
Medicaid expansion. Those eligible probably won’t be able to file a claim for six months.
Dogs at wineries. Pooches allowed within designated areas except those involving food prep.
Longer recesses. School boards can lengthen “unstructured recreational time.”

Quote of the week

“We take this journey to gamble on the ancient notion that the truth will set us free.” —Reverend Susan Minasian, who is one of three clergy on the 100-person pilgrimage from Charlottesville to the recently opened lynching memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

Another plea agreement: Felony drug charges likely dismissed

The man involved in the county’s first fatal traffic crash of 2016 pleaded guilty to possession of heroin, cocaine, a generic form of Xanax and to reckless driving in Albemarle County Circuit Court June 21 as part of a plea agreement.

On March 15, 2016, Frayser “Kip” White IV allegedly crossed double-solid yellow lines in his Audi on Ivy Road and collided head-on with 81-year-old Carolyn Wayne, who was driving a Buick and died at the scene.

Though he was sentenced to 18 months and given credit for the several months he has already served, White—whose grandfather founded Virginia Oil and whose father-in-law is director Hugh Wilson—turned to the victim’s family and said, “My actual sentence is a life sentence of sorrow and pain.”

“No words can express my sorrow,” he said. “It’s a tragedy for which I take full responsibility. …I also ask what I can do, if anything, to help your family begin to heal.”

At the scene of the wreck, a witness allegedly saw White drop something behind a nearby bush before police arrived. Upon inspection, officers found it to be a foil packet of alprazolam, the generic form of Xanax, for which White did not have a prescription. The other drug charges—both felonies—stem from residue police say they found in a baggy in his car.

White was initially charged with his second DUI in five years, but prosecutors dropped the charge after finding no evidence he had been drinking. Blood tests revealed no alcohol or illegal drugs or narcotics in his system. For this reason, prosecutors also dismissed a pending involuntary manslaughter charge on July 29.

His attorney, John Zwerling, said White has been in rehabilitative counseling for the past 15 months. He has also attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five to seven days a week. Zwerling called this a “dedication to sobriety.”

As part of the plea agreement White entered, the court will take both felony drug charges under advisement for a five-year period, and they will be dropped if he follows all conditions, including abstaining from drug and alcohol use, taking random drug and alcohol tests and successfully completing five years of supervised probation. Additionally, his license has been suspended for the same amount of time.

Kimberly Rose, the victim’s oldest granddaughter, spoke at the hearing about her beloved “Mimi,” who played bridge weekly, walked her dog, Sweetie Pie, every day, taught her to crochet and was “tragically killed” by White.

“I cannot forgive Mr. White for what happened,” she said, and she asked that he get the help he needs to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

In recent history, a couple of other prominent white men have made similar headlines for car crashes on county roads that resulted in a dead elderly person and a short jail sentence.

When realtor Andrew Middleditch was charged with involuntary manslaughter for a 2015 Memorial Day drunk-driving crash that killed 78-year-old Lonnie Branham, he was sentenced to five years in prison, but only served 140 days.

In August 2014, Charlottesville author and world renowned journalist Donovan Webster killed 75-year-old Wayne Thomas White on Route 151 in a similar drunk-driving and involuntary manslaughter case. He pleaded guilty to the charges in February 2015 and was sentenced to two years in jail.