MASCOTTE, Fla. -- A suspected drunk driver caused an accident that killed an unborn child, but he has not been arrested or charged. Good Samaritans had to chase down the suspect after the crash but, as of Monday night, troopers are waiting to make an arrest.
Troopers say Donnie Clayborn hit a family head-on along State Road 50 near Mascotte on Sunday night. A pregnant mother lost her baby as a result.
Troopers said it's routine when there's a serious injury or death to wait on those charges, but in a case like this they do like to charge the driver with a lesser crime to get him in jail, although this is the second recent Lake County crash where that hasn't happened.
"It just kind of makes our Good Samaritan efforts go right out the window," said Chris Chandler.
Chandler was driving on SR-50 when he rolled up on a crash and a suspected drunk driver trying to run.
"He was not going anywhere. We were not gonna let this guy get away with it," Chandler said.
Troopers believe 27-year-old driver Donnie Clayborn was drunk and on drugs when he crossed the centerline and slammed head on into the Charnell family.
"In certain circumstances where we have obvious impairment, somebody driving on suspended or revoked license, or somebody who's left the scene, already we're concerned about flight issues, we wanna put those people in jail as soon as possible," said Trooper Kim Miller, Florida Highway Patrol.
But that didn't happen in this case or another Lake County crash either. In March, two girls died in a one-car accident. The driver had been arrested 10 times, at least six driving-related, and it turned out he never had a license. He still isn't charged. Compare that with a fatal Orange County crash two weeks ago. The driver was arrested on-scene for trying to run.
"It's basically up to the individual state attorney's office as to what happens initially and what time period they wanna do things under," explained Miller.
The Lake County state attorney's office said there is no set policy to wait, but it is common in driving-related crashes to be sure of victims' injuries, that blood evidence is tested, and an arrest starts a 175-day time frame in which they have to try the case. Monday, Clayborn left South Lake Hospital a free man.
"It didn't take three months for him to have this accident; it shouldn't take three months to put him in jail," said Chandler.
In Sunday night's crash, the parents and their 18-month-old daughter are doing okay, but the mother was five months pregnant and that baby did not survive. Troopers say they may be able to file charges in that baby's death.
Channel 9 checked Clayborn's driving record and he's been ticketed more than a dozen times since 1996. They include driving on a suspended license in 1997, driving with no insurance in 2001, and another driving on a suspended license charge in 2001.
Copyright 2005 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Email This Story
Print This Story
