Hitting fire truck proves costly for drunk driver
A drunk driver who slammed his car into a fire truck was issued the maximum sentence for his crime this week.
The defendant, Doyle Kyle Nash, was directed to serve an 11-month, 29-day sentence behind bars, pay $600 plus court costs and forfeit his driver’s license. He was recently convicted on the charge of second-offense DUI.
Nash’s sentence comes for an incident which happened in front of Centertown Fire Hall in 2002. On that date, Nash’s vehicle collided with a fire truck which was parked in front of the department’s main fire hall, located across the parking lot from Centertown School.
Fire department personnel said the older fire truck was being cleaned up and repaired at the time for showing to a potential buyer. Aside from his intoxicated condition, investigators are unsure how Nash was able to run off the pavement in the parking lot and crash broadside into the large red fire engine.
According to District Attorney General Dale Potter, the long sentence should serve as a reminder to those charged with DUI that jail terms often run longer in circuit court. Generally, second-offense DUI, which is often settled by plea agreement or bench trial in General Sessions Court, carries 45 days in jail.