Posted on 04/22/2008 7:01:07 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Fight at scene of crash tragic, Circleville official says Dad charged with misconduct for wrestling with deputy as crews worked to extricate son Tuesday, April 22, 2008 7:52 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Adam Carter Adam Carter It unfolded March 25 along London Road in Pickaway County.
Sixteen-year-old Adam Carter was driving to school when his car crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a dump truck.
Paul Carter soon arrived. As he ran toward his son's crushed car, he was intercepted by Sgt. Cory Bachnicki.
Bachnicki said he told the man to stay back, to let the emergency crew go about its job of freeing Adam.
Carter shoved Bachnicki several times, yelling that he would have to be shot to be kept from his son, the sergeant said.
Carter continued trying to push past, Bachnicki said, and they started wrestling on the ground.
Carter, 46, ended up in handcuffs in a cruiser and later was charged with misconduct at an emergency scene, a misdemeanor.
Bachnicki suffered an injury to his left rotator cuff and cuts to a knee and hand. His shirt lapel was ripped and his radio microphone was broken.
Adam, a popular kid whose bright red hair made him stand out at Westfall High School, was flown to a Columbus hospital. He died about five hours later.
After burying his son, Paul Carter pleaded not guilty to the charge in Circleville Municipal Court.
Today, Circleville Law Director Gary Kenworthy talked with Carter's attorney about what is to become of the charge. It carries a sentence of up to six months in jail.
“It's tragic all the way around,” Kenworthy said. “I can understand both sides of the circumstances.
“I'll discuss the case with the officer and see what his thoughts are now on whether the case should go forward.”
Carter's attorney, John Farthing of Circleville, did not return telephone calls yesterday. Carter could not be reached for comment.
Sheriff Dwight Radcliff is not without sympathy for the family. However, he still believes Carter crossed the line.
“It was the last thing in the world we wanted to do, but we had a situation there with someone's life at stake. We feel bad about it, but we have a job to do.”
rludlow@dispatch.org
stand between a man and his and you’ve got it coming to you.
tragedy and I can understand the father. hopfully the charges will be dropped but they appear to be the least of his worries.
Good grief!
Leave the DAD alone. If I were him, I’d do the same thing. If I couldn’t directly help, I’d want to be near the crew verbally encouraging my son. How dare these arseholes. Have a heart for the Dad.
I agree.
They are behaving like cold hearted Nazis.
The law better find WMDs.
It was a stupid decision to charge him. Restrain him, yes, because you don’t want to stop the emergency workers from doing their job. But charging him was absolutely insane.
er..the master.
Agreed. He could have been speaking to his son anyway. Why wouldn’t they let him go near him??? That’s ludicrous. He didn’t have to be in the way while the experts were doing their jobs of course however, they COULD have let him stand by and try to speak to his son. It would have been comforting to his son and to him. Tragic.
Yep this cop kept this man being with his son the last minutes of his son’s life. I don’t know from what I read whether the son was out cold or not, but what a jerk. Did he go over to the guys house and shoot his dog after the accident scene was taken care of?
Yep this cop kept this man being with his son the last minutes of his son’s life. I don’t know from what I read whether the son was out cold or not, but what a jerk. Did he go over to the guys house and shoot his dog after the accident scene was taken care of?
God bless all the state troopers, who deal with this kind of tragedy week in and week out.
Agreed. He could have been speaking to his son anyway. Why wouldn’t they let him go near him??? That’s ludicrous. He didn’t have to be in the way while the experts were doing their jobs of course however, they COULD have let him stand by and try to speak to his son. It would have been comforting to his son and to him. Tragic.
But why charge the man? No jury will convict him. Temporary insanity. Whatever.
This is a police state run wild. The sheriff's opinion that he 'crossed a line' is self-important bilge. Guess what, Mr. High Sheriff, the world does not revolve around you and your department, especially when a man's son is dead. He's got more on his plate than he can handle, already.
Don’t these people have common sense?
Agree with everything you said.
I share your sentiments.
I’d do the same, and I’d probably wind up in cuffs too. The cop way over reacted. That said, imagine handling fatal MVA scenes every week for years. It’s got to wear on you. I have a special place in my heart for the highway patrol officers, who have to bear that burden.
Do not think boys, in particular; or 'kids' in general; should be driving at sixteen. . .up the age requirement.
That said, prayers for this family.
What a bunch of Nazis!
That father may not have been able to physically help them, but he could have spoke to his son and encouraged him - even if he was unconscious. As it turned out, he lost that opportunity on this earth. Hope these pompous, control freaks are pleased with themselves.
Dad will spend the rest of his life muttering to himself .. "I could have done it ... I could have done it ... "
That charge was probably the lightest they could come up with, I would think if the officer and he were to sit down
face to face, talk this out, this would all be over.
The Carter’s will end up owning Pickaway County, and the taxpayers will be thanking the good Sgt for years to come.
No, you moron, not SOMEONE. The minor SON of the Man you were restraining.
I have to agree (now that I'm 44 and have an 11 year old son.) I got my license a month after my 16th birthday. I was beyond dangerous for the first couple of years.
The scene control people should be moved to other responsibilities. They mishandled this.
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I agree.
Except maybe for this incident.
I have a 13-going on 14-yr old boy.
God forbid I would be faced with a similiar situation.
Dad's completely understandable emotions were getting in the way of the people trained to do this stuff.
Sad all the way around.
I just hope the Deputy let's it go.....
Two officers should have been allowed to take the man to his son.
You are assuming bad intentions by the officer. Or, maybe the officer made a mistake. Do you think the officer planned this? Maybe he did not want the man to see his son in this condition our of compassion.
so the last moments of his son’s life,maybe a last goodbye, turns into a tragic,humiliating arrest. No one should be denied that moment,I hope the guy sues and the deputy is fired,because he should have as much right to be there as anyone else.
“No jury will convict him.”
They don’t WANT it to get that far. Just shake him down for a fine and some involuntary servitude (”community service”) in exchange for clearing his record.
That’s modern American “justice”!/s
Good words, I agree.
“I pray I never have to be on either side of such a tragic scene.”
Me either but the cop was doing his job. The father would have been in the way. Had he restrained himself he would have been with his son instead of sitting in jail.
I see both sides of this, the father wants to be with his son. However, the emergency crews are trying to get the son extricated from his car and keep him alive.
You are probably right the cop made a mistake and typically charged the grieving father to cover it up. Yeah I feel much better about him in that case. Maybe the cop went over and shot the dog and cat?
This should be nol prossed or dismissed. Especially in a small town, the DA doesn't want this in the memory banks when he runs for re-election.
There's a reason family members are kept back from such scenes, and this man's reaction is the perfect illustration. He was far too emotional to be beneficial to the situation.
I agree. That said, it's too bad the dad couldn't have been escorted by two officers over to be closer to his son.
This would be my ultimate nightmare as a father.
The officer was probably thinking: danger to bystanders in extrication, hysterical father in the way, mangled boy - don’t want father’s last memory of him to be like that.
And what he should have done is walked the father over and stayed with him there...
Absolutely. And my guess is that he wishes he had done just that.
I agree. Unfortunately we live in a police state. The country that we studied as children that was founded by the founding fathers is long gone and dead. This place has become no better than the USSR. At least they (the Soviets) were honest about it, we are living in a masquerade society which makes it worse. People here believe they are free which is more dangerous than knowing you are not. Do you own your home? If your mortgage is paid off you would probably say yes. But, don’t pay your property taxes and see what happens. You are merely renting your home from the government.
This man wanted to go to his dying son, and he was arrested by the government...this country has become a police state that has no comprehension that We the People are supposed to be in charge, not these corrupt politicians.
I am sorry, I did not mean to hijack this post but I have become pissed and disillusioned with this government. I for one will not be celebrating the 4th of July, I will be mourning what it once meant.
I agree.
In fact, if it were me, I’d be in jail for shooting a cop in the head.
NO OFFICIOUS AZZHAT is going to keep me from a dying family member!
As for the criminal charges. This is CYA liability protection mode. If they had restrained the father without the criminal charges, there is no official blame assigned to the father. Next thing you get a big, fat lawsuit. The first thing his attorney will ask, "If he behaved so badly that you had to restrain him, why didn't you file criminal charges?"
Its a bad situation all the way around. But this is how the silly lawsuits make a Police Officer to take care of a volatile scene while making sure he doesn't lose his shirt and his house.
Most importantly, prayers and condolences to the young man's family.
Great post.
If course. What did they think, he was going to start fighting with the paramedics/firefighters that were assisting the kid?
They should have told him it was bad, walked him over to be close, allow him to possibly speak to to the kid. This was handled really bad. Common sense seems to be scarce nowadays.
Were it me, I've done my level best to subdue the authorities preventing me from seeing my son. Guilty as charged.
Sgt. Cory Bachnicki needs an attitude adjustment.
These law officers have a hard job but sometimes they do not use common sense.
Not the cop’s call to make.
My wife and two children were involved in an accident a couple years ago. They were missing down a steep embankment for a short time before they were finally found, while the police were at my home taking a report. The cop at my house was and still is a good friend of my family.
While he was still getting information, I heard the call come over his portable radio that my wife’s vehicle had been found. He tried to get me to stay home while he went to check it out, wishing to spare me the horrible scene (potentially).
I still remember my exact words to him, in a voice as cold a s a tomb: Deputy (even though we were friends and had been on a first-name basis for several years), I am going to my family RIGHT NOW. If you want to stop me, you are going to have to kill me, because if you try to stop me, I’m going to kill you.
I could have been arrested and tried for my (dead serious) threat, but the Deputy decided that it was best NOT to get in between a man and his (possibly) injured family.
BTW, my family was not injured. The vehicle was totaled, and they had a few minor scrapes and bruises.
I was unfortunately in a very similar situation as this Dad on Jan. 26th of this year. Thank God, the end result was a whole lot different for me, as my daughter lived.
I have been critical of the LEO’s in Nashville in past dealings with them (on a professional level, not speeding tickets here..), however, during my whole ordeal, the LEO’s stood down for almost 2 hours before even approaching me. While I did give all EMT’s enough room, I stayed close enough so she could somehow know I was with her. The officer in charge actually hung out for over an hour in the ER before meekly asking me if he could have a few minutes of my time. For that consideration, I shall be ever grateful.
I have since run into that officer, on a professional basis, and had more problems, but I know in this officers heart, he knows what is right and wrong. God Bless him.
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