Truck Driver Who Fatally Struck 2 Tourists Sentenced

Last year, a private sanitation truck driver had an epileptic seizure and fatally struck a British couple in Midtown and, yesterday, he was sentenced to 20 years to life. The Daily News reports that State Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers pointed out that Auvryn Scarlett "stopped taking his epilepsy medicine because it interfered with his boozing" and said the 54-year-old was a "time bomb." Scarlett, who had been found guilty of the murder, also never told his employer he had seizures; he said, "I'm very sorry for what took place." The children of one of the victims had written to the court, "There are lots of things that we will never get to share with our mum. She will never witness her only daughter one day walk down the aisle."

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By Jen Chung in News on November 19, 2009 11:01 AM

Comments [rss]

Dirk

Good riddance. He made a choice to be a boozer and to not treat his condition.

Mr Mel

Unfortunately, it happens a lot.

Talia

This is kind if ridiculous. He had a seizure. So what happens if I stop taking my bipolar meds, go crazy, and stab someone? It's not his fault he's epileptic.

wooden_shoes

If you stop taking your bipolar meds and you stab someone then you will end up in a forensic hospital...aka, a maximum security prison for crazies.

Spirit of 76

Sounds like you're already off your meds.

doo

This comment is crazy. Please don't ever stop taking your bipolar meds, dude.

brooklynmouthoff

It IS his fault. Read the whole article. He hid his condition from the employer because he knew he shouldn't drive a truck.

AND

HE STOPPED TAKING HIS MEDICATION SO HE COULD GET DRUNK.

Lock him up.

Abbott

Any time a tourist dies it gets a big reaction from NYPD and city hall. The city has to show the rest of the country/world that New York is a safe place; that they take crime very seriously and work hard for justice. Please don't stop spending your tourism dollars here!

Mr Mel

"Please don't stop spending your tourism dollars here!"

You said it in jest but If we lose that business, the unemployment rate will put us into a real Depression . We'll be right back into the crime scene of the 80's and 90's.

hotstepper

so what's your point?

citizenerased

So you can get drunk or just be stupid and kill people willy-nilly but epileptic fit = jail time?

newsyspice

First off, I have epilepsy.

I take anti-seizure drugs, which work absolutely wonderfully. It's rare for me to have a seizure. I can drive just fine.

What I CANNOT DO -- is drink to excess. It interferes with the drugs. And it could very easily keep the drugs from doing their jobs and bring on a seizure.

This guy appears to have known that. But he'd rather be a lush than a responsible person and take his anti-seizure drugs so he could his job safely. I have no problem with his sentence.

I also come from a long time of alkies on BOTH sides of the family. I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone who refuses to admit they have a problem and continues to put others at risk.

citizenerased

I also have no problems with this sentence. What I do have a problem with is the absence of similar sentences for similar (though non-epilepsy related) incidents.