Date: 4/10/2009
BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jim Adenhart walked to the empty pitcher’s mound in Angels Stadium where his son spent the last night of his life. He spent several quiet moments there, briefly covering his eyes with one hand.
The shock of Nick Adenhart’s death early Thursday in a car wreck caused by a suspected drunk driver was beginning to sink in for family, teammates and fans of the Los Angeles Angels rookie. Adenhart’s death came hours after his best showing yet in the major leagues.
Fans placed flowers, baseballs, posters and Rally Monkeys at a makeshift memorial on the pitcher’s mound of the replica brick infield near the stadium gates.
“He was here pitching yesterday, six amazing innings, had a really good game,” 17-year-old fan Rachel Watson said Thursday. “Today, he’s gone.”
The Angels planned to pay tribute to the 22-year-old pitcher before Friday night’s opener of a three-game series against Boston in Anaheim. They will wear a patch or emblem on their jerseys the rest of the season to honor him.
The team postponed Thursday night’s series finale against Oakland to mourn Adenhart, who was killed along with two other passengers in a car crash early Thursday in neighboring Fullerton.
The car they were riding in was broadsided in an intersection by a minivan that apparently ran a red light, police said.
Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of Riverside, was driving on a suspended license because of a previous drunk driving conviction. Preliminary results indicated Gallo’s blood-alcohol level was “substantially over the legal limit” of .08 percent, police Lt. Kevin Hamilton said.
Gallo was booked into jail on three counts of murder, three counts of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and driving under the influence of alcohol. No bail was set.
Outside Angels Stadium, a pile of flowers and tributes grew steadily.
“No. 34, You are one more Angel in heaven,” a poster read. Scribbled on a baseball was, “Now you play for another Angels team.”
Inside the clubhouse, the team met privately Thursday to remember Adenhart, who made the major league opening day roster for the first time in his career after overcoming a devastating elbow injury and subsequent surgery in 2004.
“A lot of these guys in here have never lost anybody in their family that’s close to them. I hate that this happened, but this is part of life. This is the real deal,” outfielder Torii Hunter said. “That’s why you’ve got to kiss your kids, kiss your family every day when you get up in the morning and before you leave for work.”
Adenhart was killed hours after making his season debut with his father in the stands, throwing six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics. The Angels ultimately lost the game, 6-4.
“It is a tragedy that will never be forgotten,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
The rookie pitcher’s father spoke to the team during its meeting Thursday.
“He just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity, thank you for raising his kid in minor league ball on up through the system in the Angels’ organization,” Hunter said.
Adenhart died in surgery following the accident. Henry Pearson of Manhattan Beach, a 25-year-old passenger in the car, and the driver, 20-year-old Courtney Stewart of Diamond Bar, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Stewart was a student at nearby Cal State Fullerton, where she was a former cheerleader.
Another passenger, 24-year-old Jon Wilhite of Manhattan Beach, remained in critical but stable condition Friday and doctors believe he will survive, said John Murray, a spokesman for UC Irvine Medical Center. He was being medically sedated, Murray said. Wilhite played baseball from 2004-08 at Cal State Fullerton.
Stewart’s mother said Adenhart and the others had gone dancing at a club about a block away from the crash site.
At the ballpark Wednesday night, Adenhart made just his fourth major league start and left with a 4-0 lead, before the bullpen gave away what would have been his second big league win.
During Thursday’s closed-door session, “we were just kind of reminiscing about what Nick brought to the team, to the clubhouse,” Hunter said.
“He was a very funny kid and he’s going to be missed,” he said. “Every time you come to the stadium and you go in that clubhouse, you’re looking at Nick Adenhart’s locker.”
Adenhart had made a slow climb to reach the majors.
He hurt his pitching elbow two weeks before the June 2004 major league draft, when he was projected as a top-five pick out of Williamsport High in Maryland.
The setback dropped him to the 14th round, where the Angels selected him anyway. He had Tommy John surgery — a reconstructive operation on an elbow ligament — later that month and spent most of next four seasons in the minors.
Adenhart had a 9.00 ERA in three starts for the Angels last season, but Scioscia said last month the right-hander had worked hard over the winter and arrived at spring training with a purpose.
He was made the No. 3 starter as the season began this week because of injuries to John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar, all of whom are on the disabled list.
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AP Sports Writer Ken Peters in Anaheim, Calif., contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
NC teen who studied crash deaths dies in wreck
Date: 11/10/2008
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ A North Carolina teenager who studied teen highway deaths as a senior high school project is dead after a crash.
Eighteen-year-old Shannon Nicole Adkins graduated last spring after turning in a report about the risks facing young drivers on the mainly rural roads of Johnston County.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Monday that Adkins was the 27th Johnston County teen to die in a wreck since the start of 2006 and the second in just over a week.
The highway patrol said Adkins was driving a pickup truck when another pickup crossed into her lane Saturday night and struck her head-on.
The other driver was a 29-year-old woman who was hospitalized in fair condition and charged with driving while impaired.
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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ A North Carolina teenager who studied teen highway deaths as a senior high school project is dead after a crash.
Eighteen-year-old Shannon Nicole Adkins graduated last spring after turning in a report about the risks facing young drivers on the mainly rural roads of Johnston County.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Monday that Adkins was the 27th Johnston County teen to die in a wreck since the start of 2006 and the second in just over a week.
The highway patrol said Adkins was driving a pickup truck when another pickup crossed into her lane Saturday night and struck her head-on.
The other driver was a 29-year-old woman who was hospitalized in fair condition and charged with driving while impaired.
___
Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
NY police: Teen driver on drugs runs down joggers
Date: 11/7/2008
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writer
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) _ A teenager on drugs and driving a sport utility vehicle slammed into two runners out for an evening jog, killing one of them — a beloved schoolteacher — and seriously injuring her friend, police said Friday.
Shea Rosen, a 19-year-old from the exclusive village of Brookville on Long Island, was being held in lieu of $1 million bond after pleading not guilty to driving under the influence.
Rosen’s attorney, former federal prosecutor Joseph Conway, declined to comment on the high bond amount but said his client’s family was unlikely to post it Friday.
Rosen, who works as a busboy and waiter at a Huntington restaurant, had no prior criminal record, his lawyer and police said.
Amanda Malloy, a 29-year-old who competed in triathlons and taught fourth grade at John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in Deer Park, was pronounced dead at a hospital after being run down about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Her running companion, Vincent Saunders, 32, of Huntington, was hospitalized and not expected to survive, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Avemaria Thompson said at Rosen’s arraignment.
The prosecutor said police smelled marijuana on Rosen’s breath after the accident on a busy stretch of a Huntington highway.
More than 12 hours after the accident, Rosen’s 2000 Dodge Durango remained at the accident scene, and a lone woman’s jogging sneaker lay on the pavement nearby.
Three unidentified pills were found in Rosen’s sock, Thompson said. She said Rosen told police he didn’t see the joggers in the road.
Rosen, whose Facebook page features a photo of him flipping his middle finger to the camera, was initially charged with driving under the influence of drugs, but the prosecutor said upgraded charges were likely.
Conway said his office was still trying to ascertain what happened. “Our hearts, of course, go out to the victims’ families,” he said.
Malloy’s sister-in-law described her as a physical fitness enthusiast who often competed in triathlons and was an expert in the martial arts.
“Her life was exercising,” said Christine MacQuarrie, who also taught at Kennedy. “It is ironic that she died doing what she loved.”
Saunders and Malloy were friends who attended the same karate school and shared the same interests in exercise, MacQuarrie said.
Deer Park School Superintendent Elizabeth Marino said in a statement that grief counselors were at the school for staff and students.
“As an expert in the martial arts, she took pride in sharing her knowledge with students through well-received assemblies,” Marino said. “Amanda was loved and admired by her colleagues and students alike and highly respected by administration.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writer
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) _ A teenager on drugs and driving a sport utility vehicle slammed into two runners out for an evening jog, killing one of them — a beloved schoolteacher — and seriously injuring her friend, police said Friday.
Shea Rosen, a 19-year-old from the exclusive village of Brookville on Long Island, was being held in lieu of $1 million bond after pleading not guilty to driving under the influence.
Rosen’s attorney, former federal prosecutor Joseph Conway, declined to comment on the high bond amount but said his client’s family was unlikely to post it Friday.
Rosen, who works as a busboy and waiter at a Huntington restaurant, had no prior criminal record, his lawyer and police said.
Amanda Malloy, a 29-year-old who competed in triathlons and taught fourth grade at John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in Deer Park, was pronounced dead at a hospital after being run down about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Her running companion, Vincent Saunders, 32, of Huntington, was hospitalized and not expected to survive, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Avemaria Thompson said at Rosen’s arraignment.
The prosecutor said police smelled marijuana on Rosen’s breath after the accident on a busy stretch of a Huntington highway.
More than 12 hours after the accident, Rosen’s 2000 Dodge Durango remained at the accident scene, and a lone woman’s jogging sneaker lay on the pavement nearby.
Three unidentified pills were found in Rosen’s sock, Thompson said. She said Rosen told police he didn’t see the joggers in the road.
Rosen, whose Facebook page features a photo of him flipping his middle finger to the camera, was initially charged with driving under the influence of drugs, but the prosecutor said upgraded charges were likely.
Conway said his office was still trying to ascertain what happened. “Our hearts, of course, go out to the victims’ families,” he said.
Malloy’s sister-in-law described her as a physical fitness enthusiast who often competed in triathlons and was an expert in the martial arts.
“Her life was exercising,” said Christine MacQuarrie, who also taught at Kennedy. “It is ironic that she died doing what she loved.”
Saunders and Malloy were friends who attended the same karate school and shared the same interests in exercise, MacQuarrie said.
Deer Park School Superintendent Elizabeth Marino said in a statement that grief counselors were at the school for staff and students.
“As an expert in the martial arts, she took pride in sharing her knowledge with students through well-received assemblies,” Marino said. “Amanda was loved and admired by her colleagues and students alike and highly respected by administration.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Evansville Woman Dies in Crash with County Coroner Vehicle
Date: 10/31/2008
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Marguerite Stewart, 89, was fatally injured when the car she was riding in struck a pickup truck belonging to the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s office. Coroner Don Erk said the cause of death appeared to be head trauma, but that the Warrick County coroner would handle the investigation and follow-up with family because one of Erk’s staff vehicles was involved.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Marguerite Stewart, 89, was fatally injured when the car she was riding in struck a pickup truck belonging to the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s office. Coroner Don Erk said the cause of death appeared to be head trauma, but that the Warrick County coroner would handle the investigation and follow-up with family because one of Erk’s staff vehicles was involved.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Austrian rightist was speeding at twice limit
Date: 10/12/2008 10:45 AM
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ Far-right politician Joerg Haider was speeding at more than twice the posted limit before the car crash that killed him, investigators said Sunday as his grief-stricken party appointed a successor.
Flowers, notes and other tributes piled up at the scene of the crash that killed the former leader of the Freedom Party, whose anti-immigration stance and provocative praise of the Nazi era once led the European Union to slap Austria with diplomatic sanctions.
Police reconstructing Saturday’s accident in the southern province of Carinthia, where Haider was governor, said the speedometer in the wreckage of Haider’s high-powered Volkswagen Phaeton limousine was stuck at 142 kph (88 mph).
The speed limit at the crash site is just 70 kph (43 mph), and it drops to 50 kph (31 mph) just 100 meters (yards) further down the road in the direction Haider was heading.
Prosecutor Gottfried Kranz said the high speed appeared to be the main factor in the crash that killed the 58-year-old politician.
“Any speculation about other causes of the accident is weak,” Kranz said, adding that the car was technically sound and police had no reason to suspect foul play.
Police said the car veered off the road after Haider overtook another vehicle, then struck a concrete pillar and rolled over. Haider, who was alone in the car, suffered multiple injuries and died while being rushed to a hospital.
Haider left the Freedom Party a few years ago to found the rightist Alliance for the Future of Austria, which captured about 11 percent of the vote in last month’s national elections.
Visibly shaken party leaders gathered in Vienna on Sunday to name the Alliance’s secretary-general, Stefan Petzner, as Haider’s successor.
Haider had expressed a wish that the party carry on should anything ever happen to him, “and we owe it to him to fulfill that obligation,” another Haider deputy, Herbert Scheibner, told reporters.
It remained unclear what impact Haider’s death would have on talks to form a new coalition government.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ Far-right politician Joerg Haider was speeding at more than twice the posted limit before the car crash that killed him, investigators said Sunday as his grief-stricken party appointed a successor.
Flowers, notes and other tributes piled up at the scene of the crash that killed the former leader of the Freedom Party, whose anti-immigration stance and provocative praise of the Nazi era once led the European Union to slap Austria with diplomatic sanctions.
Police reconstructing Saturday’s accident in the southern province of Carinthia, where Haider was governor, said the speedometer in the wreckage of Haider’s high-powered Volkswagen Phaeton limousine was stuck at 142 kph (88 mph).
The speed limit at the crash site is just 70 kph (43 mph), and it drops to 50 kph (31 mph) just 100 meters (yards) further down the road in the direction Haider was heading.
Prosecutor Gottfried Kranz said the high speed appeared to be the main factor in the crash that killed the 58-year-old politician.
“Any speculation about other causes of the accident is weak,” Kranz said, adding that the car was technically sound and police had no reason to suspect foul play.
Police said the car veered off the road after Haider overtook another vehicle, then struck a concrete pillar and rolled over. Haider, who was alone in the car, suffered multiple injuries and died while being rushed to a hospital.
Haider left the Freedom Party a few years ago to found the rightist Alliance for the Future of Austria, which captured about 11 percent of the vote in last month’s national elections.
Visibly shaken party leaders gathered in Vienna on Sunday to name the Alliance’s secretary-general, Stefan Petzner, as Haider’s successor.
Haider had expressed a wish that the party carry on should anything ever happen to him, “and we owe it to him to fulfill that obligation,” another Haider deputy, Herbert Scheibner, told reporters.
It remained unclear what impact Haider’s death would have on talks to form a new coalition government.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.