Editorial: The Postscript for Crash That Killed Martin County Teen Can Be Summarized in Two Haunting Words: If Only…
By pcpalm.com
It’s impossible not to be outraged by the latest development in the David Whelan story.
Remember Whelan? He was driving south on U.S. 1 in Hobe Sound the night of June 23 and slammed head-on into the Ford Ranger driven by Jessica Smith, a 16-year-old cheerleader at South Fork High School.
Both motorists died in the crash.
But this was no accident.
Whelan, 58, of Palm Beach Gardens, was driving south on northbound U.S. 1. His blood-alcohol content measured 0.306 — more than three times the legal limit of 0.08, according to a crash report.
Getting angry? There’s more.
Whelan had a rap sheet the size of a dossier. He had been arrested 44 times in the Sunshine State since 1994, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. Forty-four times. These charges included DUI, battery, disorderly intoxication, larceny, robbery, cocaine possession, failure to appear and aggravated assault. He was convicted of three DUIs and his license had been suspended a fifth time at the time of the crash.
But there he was, nonetheless, driving the wrong way in an impaired state when his vehicle collided with Smith’s.
Now, we learn a judge had issued an arrest warrant for Whelan two weeks before the fatal crash, but the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office failed to execute the warrant.
Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen, who issued the warrant June 9, wanted Whelan arrested for consistently violating the terms of his release from a 2009 DUI conviction, according to a report by WPTV NewsChannel 5. So why wasn’t Whelan apprehended?
“An attempt was made at his home address, but he wasn’t there,” said Lt. Chris Keane of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s warrant division. “Whelan was one of those offenders who had had multiple addresses. He had eight different addresses on file from various encounters with law enforcement.”
An attempt? One? That’s it?
The death of Jessica Smith constitutes a gross failure of the legal, judicial and law enforcement systems to protect the innocents among us. The haunting part of this tragedy is the fact Whelan never should have been on the streets — not with more than three dozen arrests on his record and an arrest warrant with his name on it.
The postscript for this horrific tale can be summarized in two words: If only …
No parent should be forced to live with “if only … “
Tags: Crash That Killed Martin County Teen, David Whelen, dui, Jessica Smith, multiple DUI convictions
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube