Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

Man gets a year in jail for near-fatal DUI crash at Colonial Williamsburg

Almost a year after he drunkenly hit an elderly woman crossing a street in Williamsburg on Christmas Eve, Mark Schneider was sentenced to a year in jail – starting on Christmas Eve.

"You are an example to the community of what can happen when you drink to excess and drive," Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Samuel Powell said to Schneider, 39, according to the Daily Press of Newport News.

Schneider hit Irene Carson, a 72-year-old Pennsylvania woman as she crossed Francis Street East in the historic part of Williamsburg on Dec. 24, 2008. Schneider himself is a historic interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg.

Carson suffered multiple skull fractures and will probably never completely recover, the judge told Schneider.

Schneider was speeding as he drove down Francis Street East, and had a blood-alcohol level of .19; Virginia’s minimum for intoxication is .08.

Schneider will serve his sentence at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail on weekends, permitting him to keep his job at Colonial Williamsburg, the Daily Press reported.

Schneider pleaded guilty to felony assault and to a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving. Besides the jail time, he’s been ordered to pay more than $17,000 to Carson in medical expenses and restitution. Judge Powell held in abeyance an additional charge of maiming while driving drunk. Schneider was also fined $500.

The Daily Press story did not say whether or not Carson, of Chadds Ford, Pa., attended the sentencing, which took place on Tuesday.

Labels: Chadds Ford Colonial Williamsburg drunk driving DUI Irene Carson Mark Schneider Samuel Powell Williamsburg-James City County