Bartender and passenger charged in alleged North Carolina drunk driving crash
Sunday, November 20th, 2011Agents from the North Carolina Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement recently arrested two people in connection with a fatal car accident that happened in September. A 19-year-old Montgomery County man died in the Sept. 9 wreck. Police say the teenager was killed in a single-vehicle car accident. The teenager reportedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.23 percent at the time of the crash.
The legal limit in North Carolina for people 21 and older is 0.08 percent. For underage drivers North Carolina law has a zero-tolerance policy. The arrests, however, were made in connection to underage drinking-related charges.
ALE agents arrested a 48-year-old bartender who works at a Mount Gilead establishment. Authorities have charged the bartender with selling malt beverages to the teenager who was killed in the accident.
The second arrest involves a person who police claim was a passenger in the vehicle involved in the September crash. The 28-year-old Troy man was arrested on a string of North Carolina charges, including aiding and abetting underage possession of a malt beverage, aiding and abetting impaired driving and resisting arrest, among other charges.
ALE investigators claim the teenager who died in the accident had been playing pool and drinking alcohol at the Mount Gilead establishment prior to the fatal accident.
People charged with aiding and abetting DWI or underage DUI in North Carolina can face strict penalties if convicted of the charges. The law treats the aiding and abetting similarly to a DWI charge itself. It is important to consider speaking with an experienced Greenville DWI defense attorney when facing any charges related to alcohol offenses in North Carolina.
Source: WFMY News 2, “Julian Oldham, Jon Williamson Arrested In Death Of Teenage Driver,” Devetta Blount, Oct. 27, 2011