Wednesday, Sep. 02, 2009

Man in fatal street race appeals revocation

Chris Petersen, the Raleigh man who eight years ago challenged a car of teenagers to a fatal race on Interstate 540, continues to fight for his right to drive.

Petersen, 25, pleaded guilty last week to a drunken driving charge from May. A judge put him on probation for 18 months; violating it would result in six months in jail. The judge also revoked his license, said Nick Yates, a Wake County assistant prosecutor.

Petersen asked for a limited license to be able to drive to work. The judge denied the request, and Petersen said he would appeal the case to Superior Court.

After the 2001 accident, Petersen was found guilty of four counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and was put on probation.

Bryan Edwin Reaves, 18, and Jamie Lynn Brewer, David Michael Smith and Matthew William Yurcak, all 17, were killed in the 2001 crash. The teenagers had headed to race on the newly opened Interstate 540 after stopping for ice cream on a warm spring night. Reaves and Petersen were driving up to 110 mph when Reaves' car crossed a median into oncoming traffic. The deaths shattered the schools the friends attended. All but Smith attended Leesville Road High School. Smith went to Sanderson.

Petersen wasn't initially charged in connection with the teenagers' deaths, but was implicated after civil lawsuits turned up evidence that he had instigated the race. Petersen went to trial on four counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2004. But in the midst of the trial, he was offered a plea to misdemeanor death by vehicle charges after problems arose with one a prosecution witness.

In 2006, he had his probation revoked and spent several months in jail after he was caught violating a judge's orders not to get behind the wheel.

In 2008, he crashed his car, causing property damage, and fled the scene.

"People tend to forget that driving in this state is a privilege," Yates said. "He should not be driving."

Petersen's attorney, Nick Saparilas, declined to comment on the appeal. He did say that offenders convicted at Petersen's level are regularly granted limited driving privileges.

"He just wants to be treated like everybody else under the law," Saparilas said.