Asile
05-20-2010, 08:54 PM
Henrico woman charged in Glenside hit-and-run
By Bill Mckelway
A Henrico County woman knocked over warning cones and drove into a highway work zone early yesterday on Interstate 64, striking a construction worker near the Glenside Drive interchange, police say.
State police and Henrico police charged Meta D. Hall, 48, with felony hit and run and a second offense within 10 years of driving under the influence after stopping her near her Short Pump home about 8 miles from the scene.
State police Sgt. Thomas J. Molnar said an unidentified motorist followed Hall and kept in touch with 911 operators, which made the arrest possible. The victim, Bryan Fitzgerald, 27, was treated at a hospital and released.
According to a search warrant filed in Henrico, Hall acknowledged she was intoxicated and felt a bump but thought she had hit a warning cone.
"When I asked the driver why I pulled her over," police officer E.A. Santana wrote, she stated, "Because I have been drinking."
She said she did not stop because she knew she was intoxicated, according to the search warrant. Police said she later refused a breath or blood test and the search warrant was obtained to extract a blood sample.
Molnar said the mile-long construction zone was well-marked with flashing lights, cones, barrels, signs, and a state police vehicle with flashing blue lights.
Two of three lanes were closed for maintenance work, leaving the far-left westbound lane open. State laws allow double fines for some violations around work zones.
Molnar said Hall had been at a Broad Street business before the 1 a.m. incident, but he declined to specify its name.
Court records in Henrico show that Hall had her license to drive restored by Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. on April 2 after at least a three-year period since her last DUI conviction.
The order states she had had a substance-abuse problem at the time of her prior arrests but is "no longer addicted to or psychologically dependent on the use of alcohol or other drugs."
Court records show her license was revoked in 2005 after DUI convictions in June 2004, December 2004 and August 1998.
She was sentenced to five years in prison in March 2005 with four years suspended, Henrico court records show.
Hall was being held in the Henrico jail and has a June 21 court date.
She lives in a gated community near Short Pump Town Center in the 1000 block of Somersworth Lane. She recently had worked as a cashier at a Burger King restaurant on Pouncey Tract Road, according to the restaurant's senior assistant manager, David Bauer.
Bauer said he had to let her go because of reductions in force and that she also had worked as a Mary Kay cosmetics sales agent.
Court records show that an ignition-interlock system was installed on Hall's car in June 2008 for six months, as part of her driving restrictions. An interlock system will not allow a vehicle to start if the driver is impaired by alcohol.
Original Richmond Times-Dispatch article (http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/HITR20_20100519-223004/345675/)
Yeah... No idea how a person could mistake a human being for a traffic cone.
By Bill Mckelway
A Henrico County woman knocked over warning cones and drove into a highway work zone early yesterday on Interstate 64, striking a construction worker near the Glenside Drive interchange, police say.
State police and Henrico police charged Meta D. Hall, 48, with felony hit and run and a second offense within 10 years of driving under the influence after stopping her near her Short Pump home about 8 miles from the scene.
State police Sgt. Thomas J. Molnar said an unidentified motorist followed Hall and kept in touch with 911 operators, which made the arrest possible. The victim, Bryan Fitzgerald, 27, was treated at a hospital and released.
According to a search warrant filed in Henrico, Hall acknowledged she was intoxicated and felt a bump but thought she had hit a warning cone.
"When I asked the driver why I pulled her over," police officer E.A. Santana wrote, she stated, "Because I have been drinking."
She said she did not stop because she knew she was intoxicated, according to the search warrant. Police said she later refused a breath or blood test and the search warrant was obtained to extract a blood sample.
Molnar said the mile-long construction zone was well-marked with flashing lights, cones, barrels, signs, and a state police vehicle with flashing blue lights.
Two of three lanes were closed for maintenance work, leaving the far-left westbound lane open. State laws allow double fines for some violations around work zones.
Molnar said Hall had been at a Broad Street business before the 1 a.m. incident, but he declined to specify its name.
Court records in Henrico show that Hall had her license to drive restored by Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. on April 2 after at least a three-year period since her last DUI conviction.
The order states she had had a substance-abuse problem at the time of her prior arrests but is "no longer addicted to or psychologically dependent on the use of alcohol or other drugs."
Court records show her license was revoked in 2005 after DUI convictions in June 2004, December 2004 and August 1998.
She was sentenced to five years in prison in March 2005 with four years suspended, Henrico court records show.
Hall was being held in the Henrico jail and has a June 21 court date.
She lives in a gated community near Short Pump Town Center in the 1000 block of Somersworth Lane. She recently had worked as a cashier at a Burger King restaurant on Pouncey Tract Road, according to the restaurant's senior assistant manager, David Bauer.
Bauer said he had to let her go because of reductions in force and that she also had worked as a Mary Kay cosmetics sales agent.
Court records show that an ignition-interlock system was installed on Hall's car in June 2008 for six months, as part of her driving restrictions. An interlock system will not allow a vehicle to start if the driver is impaired by alcohol.
Original Richmond Times-Dispatch article (http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/HITR20_20100519-223004/345675/)
Yeah... No idea how a person could mistake a human being for a traffic cone.