Firefighter to be charged with DUI, vehicular manslaughter
| Wednesday, Mar 10 2010 11:56 AM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 10 2010 07:24 PM
Images
facebook image of Kern County Firefighter Engineer Mitchell Green.
Michelle Maxwell
Michaela Maxwell was injured in a wreck involving an alleged drunken driver.
PG&E crews work on the power lines at Panama Lane and Ashe Road the morning after a vehicle accident killing Michelle Maxwell and injuring her daughter, Michaela Maxwell, and off-duty firefighter Mitchell Green.
Related Stories:
- Firefighter suspected of driving drunk in deadly crash is recovering
- Pastor calls for healing at funeral of woman killed in crash with suspected drunken driver
- Businesses join church in raising money for crash victim's family
- Grieving husband plans funeral for wife killed in crash, puts matter in God's hands
- Family of crash victim thanks community for support
- Bakersfield mother killed in crash with firefighter police believe was drunk
Felony charges of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence will be filed Thursday against Kern County firefighter Mitchell Green in a crash that killed a woman and seriously injured her daughter.
Green, 30, is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon on the charges that carry a possible prison term of up to 14 years, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Michael Yraceburn said Wednesday.
The prosecutor declined to disclose the blood-alcohol level of Green on Feb. 2 when he reportedly ran a red light at Panama Lane and Ashe Road and drove his Ford F-150 pickup truck into the passenger side of a Hyundai driven by 15-year-old Michaela Maxwell.
Bakersfield police said there was no evidence of braking.
The teen suffered a broken wrist, a broken leg and bruises, but her 41-year-old mother, Michelle Maxwell, was killed in the 7:52 p.m. crash.
Green, who was off duty, was also seriously injured as his pickup struck a power pole and caught on fire.
Green spent more than two weeks in critical condition in a Fresno hospital. He is currently on a medical leave of absence from the fire department where he has worked for three years, officials have said.
He will be charged with felony vehicular manslaughter while driving drunk with multiple victims and causing death or serious bodily injury, Yraceburn said. He will also be charged with four counts of felony driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or higher, two counts for each of the victims.
Murder charges can be filed in some traffic death cases, but it’s generally only when a defendant has a prior drunken driving conviction and has been formally warned that driving drunk and killing someone could result in a second-degree murder charge.
Defense attorney Troy Childers declined to comment on the charges. But Childers said Green is out of the hospital, back in Bakersfield, improving daily but is still hurt. Reports that Green was burned are incorrect, Childers said.
Michelle Maxwell, the mother of three daughters, had been married to her husband, Jerry, for nearly 24 years. Michaela is a sophomore at Independence High School where she’s involved in the color guard and sports.
At the time of the crash, the mother and daughter were on their way to the New Life center to sign a quilt for a 15-year-old girl who had died from leukemia.
The Maxwell family declined to comment on the charges.
