Food truck driver found guilty on all counts stemming from crash that killed Ashburn mother
Food truck driver found guilty on all counts stemming from crash that killed Ashburn mother
By Sophie Desmond, sdesdmond@loudountimes.com Mar 23, 2018 Updated 10 min ago
A Loudoun County Circuit Court jury on Friday found Tony Steven Dane guilty of involuntary manslaughter after his food truck, Danes Great American Hamburger, which operated out of a converted school bus, crashed into Erin Kaplans Audi station wagon on Sept. 8, 2017, killing her and injuring her family.
The jury also issued guilty verdicts on the other charges brought against Dane after the crash, including reckless driving due to faulty brakes, driving with out a drivers license (second offense), operating an uninsured vehicle and failure to have the vehicle inspected. ... The jury recommended the maximum sentence of 10 years for involuntary manslaughter along with another year and a half for the other charges, plus a total of $3,500 in fines.
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He could have fixed this a long time ago, prosecutor and assistant commonwealths attorney Eric Shamis argued during closing statements. He and his associate Ryan Perry reiterated the evidence found against Dane. Days before the accident Dane noticed that his brakes were beginning to fail, that they were spongy, so he attempted to fix them himself.
Maybe he didnt take it in because a mechanic wouldnt let it back out of the shop, Perry said regarding the state of the bus turned food truck, noting the dry rot and rust found in the tires, the uneven weight of the bus after it had been converted, along with the faulty brakes. Perry also noted that when Dane felt his brakes going he didnt turn off of the road because his son and his sons friend were also in the truck and not wearing seat belts -- because there were no seat belts. ... It was a death trap, Perry said. He knew the brakes were failing, but he kept driving.