Gilroy
– The driver of the pick-up truck in which Erin Kinkel was
riding the night she died was arrested on suspicion of vehicular
manslaughter, according the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s
office.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – The driver of the pick-up truck in which Erin Kinkel was riding the night she died was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, according the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
In addition to the vehicular manslaughter charge – a misdemeanor – Anthony Scott McDowell, 18, of Morgan Hill, faces a charge of unlawfully transporting a person in the back of a motor truck – an infraction.
An arrest warrant was served to McDowell Wednesday. It was unclear whether he surrendered or was taken into custody by law enforcement, but he was not in custody Thursday evening. No arraignment date was set as of press time Thursday.
If convicted, he could face one year in county jail, as well as various fines, probation terms and other conditions the court could impose, said Robert A. Mestman, deputy district attorney. Those other conditions could range from a suspended driver’s license to community service to driver’s education classes.
Scott Kinkel, Erin’s father, who since the accident has encouraged other teen-agers to learn a lesson from his daughter’s death, said Thursday he hopes McDowell’s arrest will help bring that message home.
“I believe that there does need to be a message that says if you are out driving and you allow people to do unsafe things and do illegal things, you should suffer the consequences,” Kinkel said. “I don’t want to ruin his life over it. Somehow, I would like to see this process utilized to benefit kids, to get this message across.”
Mestman said his office filed charges against McDowell because he clearly was in violation of the law.
“Based on the police report, there were several vehicle code violations … including unsafe speed and unsafe turning movement,” Mestman said. “And the law states that if you violate the law, including vehicle code infractions and misdemeanors, and that results in the death of a person, that could result in charges.”
On Aug. 1, at about 1am, McDowell was driving a 1985 Ford F-250 on Redwood Retreat Road. In the passenger seat was McDowell’s friend and in the bed of the truck were 15-year-old Erin Kinkel and friend Cassie Lopez.
According to the California Highway Patrol’s accident report, McDowell was driving on a narrow, left-hand curve when he made an unsafe turning movement to the right and the right rear wheel of the truck went off the road. The truck hit a tree on the right shoulder, ejecting Kinkel onto the paved road and Lopez onto the dirt.
Calls to McDowell’s home were not returned by press time.
The Kinkel family wants to have input on McDowell’s punishment, if he is convicted.
“I understand especially that there is definitely a clear violation of the law and I understand that – believe me, I understand better than anybody in this town that a life was taken because of that irresponsibility and violation of the vehicle code,” Scott Kinkel said. “In Erin’s honor, I still would like to see something positive come of this, and I would personally like … to see (the teen-agers) put together a sensitive presentation and take it to the high schools and the junior high schools – the kids who are driving and will be driving in a few years.”
Erin and her friends are good kids, he said, who didn’t drink or do drugs, but yet broke the law by riding unrestrained and unsafe in the back of a truck.
“A lot of (kids) are very, very angry because they know that what these kids did was dumb, stupid and illegal,” Kinkel said. “There’s a few – thank God only a few – who say, ‘They were just having fun,’ but they just don’t get it.
“Not just young kids, either, there’s a lot of adults I’ve seen that need to get the message that a car is not a Great America thrill ride.”
Meanwhile, Lopez, whose arm is nearly fully healed after being injured in the Aug. 1 accident, said her friend’s arrest seemed imminent, but still came as a surprise.
“It was just shocking, but he took it pretty well,” she said. “It was kind of expected, but it really is awful that it happened. … I know we were doing things wrong, but it’s not like it was intentional.”
