Road rage takes deadly turn: Motorcyclist killed

[PeteSC]

Published: Aug 15, 2005 - 11:07:05 pm EDT
Road rage takes deadly turn: Motorcyclist killed, driver sought in Hartly incident
By Kate House-Layton and Jenny Maher, Delaware State News

 
HARTLY - It was just an evening ride.

Something to help unwind and relieve a man of the pain of his mother's death that morning.

It ended with his death, another man injured and an already grieving family planning a double funeral.

Joseph D. August, 40, of Smyrna, died Sunday evening when the motorcycle he was driving was pushed off the road during a road-rage-related incident.

Delaware State Police Cpl. Jeffry C. Oldham said the crash has been classified as a homicide.

 
The incident occurred around 6:10 p.m. when Mr. August and his longtime friend, Matthew M. Passwaters, 44, of Bear, were traveling eastbound on Del. 44 on their 2004 Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Cpl. Oldham said.

The men stopped for a stop sign at the intersection with Del. 11 in Hartly when an older-model Chevrolet Suburban, headed west on Del. 44, approached, Cpl. Oldham said.

As the motorcycles started turning left onto Del. 11, the Suburban allegedly slowed, but did not stop before it continued through the intersection, cutting off the motorcycles, police said.

Cpl. Oldham said the driver of the Suburban allegedly made an obscene gesture to the bikers, who turned around and stopped on the shoulder of the road.

The Suburban's driver also stopped, Cpl. Oldham said.

 
 
"They gave us the finger and laughed and all that," Mr. Passwaters said Monday.

Mr. August and Mr. Passwaters allegedly got off their bikes, approached the Suburban and argued with the driver and his passenger, Cpl. Oldham said.

During the argument, one of the motorcyclists allegedly kicked the Suburban's passenger-side mirror while the other banged on the driver-side window, police said.

The Suburban then drove westbound and Mr. August and Mr. Passwaters returned to their bikes and drove northbound on Del. 11, Cpl. Oldham said.

Mr. Passwaters then saw the Suburban approaching the bikes from behind, Cpl. Oldham said, and pulled next to Mr. August to warn him before he pulled ahead of his friend.

The Suburban collided with Mr. August's motorcycle, thrusting it off the road, where it hit a tree head-on, Cpl. Oldham said.

Mr. August's father, Joseph, who also rides motorcycles, said that when his son hit the tree, the Harley hit him in the chest, crushing him.

The Suburban then collided with Mr. Passwaters, forcing him into a field before it continued northbound, Cpl. Oldham said.

Mr. August was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Mr. Passwaters was treated and released from Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital in Dover for a hand injury.

 
 
Mr. August's mother, Stella Ann August, had died Sunday morning of emphysema.

At an emotional press conference Monday, family members said they had been at the home of John August, Joseph's brother, making plans for the funeral when Mr. August and Mr. Passwaters had decided to take a ride to relieve the stress.

The already grieving family was shocked when it heard about the crash.

"We freaked," said sister Maxine August of Bear.

At the press conference, Mr. Passwaters and the August family pleaded with the driver of the Suburban.

"Turn yourself in and make it easy on yourself, please," Mr. Passwaters said.

"(Mr. August) had a daughter and a son - turn yourself in man, for his family. That's all we ask. You didn't have no right to do what you did to us. Joe didn't deserve that."

A skilled carpenter, Mr. August had a business, August Home Construction, and enjoyed helping his loved ones with handy work.

His sister-in-law, Veronica August, said he built two additions onto her house, one to accommodate her daycare, August Angels, in Hartly.

Mr. August's daughter, Christine, 19, remembered her dad as a kind and giving man whose many good deeds will never be forgotten.

"My dad is the nicest person in world," she said, her eyes welling with tears.

"He was always willing to help somebody and was always giving people money if they needed it. And he always had different people living with him, because when someone needed a place to stay he'd offer."

Mr. August's son, Joseph Jr., 14, was too distraught to attend Monday's press conference, his relatives said.

The family is planning a double funeral, for Mr. August and his mother, at 10 a.m. Thursday at Faries Funeral Home in Smyrna.

"That way it will only be one stressful event, instead of one right after the other," Maxine August said.

Donations are being accepted at Bulldozer's Saloon in Smyrna to defray the cost of the services.

Mr. August's father said he hopes everyone will keep an eye out for the truck that drove his son off the road.

It is described as a brown and tan Suburban, possibly made between 1985 and 1995, with an orange ladder on the roof and possible dents on the passenger-side bumper or fender.

Mr. Passwaters said he believes the vehicle has a Delaware registration, but is not certain.

On Monday, several of Mr. August's friends placed flowers at the scene of the crash and expressed their shock over the incident.

"Whoever hit him, it's uncalled for," said Rick Walls of Hartly, who often went motorcycle riding with Mr. August.

"He was a very good driver and very responsible. It doesn't make sense."

Andrea Summers, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Highway Safety, said the fatality was the 12th involving motorcycles in the state this year. There were five motorcycle-related deaths this time last year and 10 for all of 2004.

Cpl. Oldham said the crash is considered a homicide. He said there is no legal classification for road rage.

Ms. Summers said aggressive driving, which has a legal classification in Delaware, is a series of traffic violations, including speeding, running stoplights or signs, cutting off other vehicles and rapid lane changes.

Road rage, she said, is a criminal offense triggered by aggressive driving.

Cpl. Oldham said there is no charge for road rage but a motorist could be charged with homicide, reckless endangering, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening or traffic charges.

Anyone with information on Sunday's incident should call Delaware State Police Troop 3 at 697-4454 or Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333.





Road ragers in cages can kill you!
  It was stupid of the riders to confront the cager....that doesn't mean they deserved getting run over, though.
  You never know if the idiot you're screaming at in a car has a gun, or will use the vehicle to kill you.  
 Keep away from them.  Get a license number if you can, and call the cops....it isn't worth getting hurt over!

[Desolation Angel]

D@mn!  They were mentally stressed and preoccupied.  Not the time to drive unless you have to.  They should of left the cager alone.  Sad Sad Sad.  Don't get in confrontations with idiots.  You won't change their mind or behaviour.

Poor family.

[PeteSC]

Man charged with murder in hit-run
BY TERRI SANGINITI / The News Journal
08/17/2005State police have charged a Dover man with running two motorcyclists off the road, killing one and injuring the other.

Willis R. Miller, 27, of the 4000 block of W. Denneys Road, surrendered to detectives at Delaware State Police Troop 3 Tuesday morning to face charges of second-degree murder and second-degree assault. He was committed to Delaware Correctional Center, near Smyrna, after failing to post $110,000 bail.

Miller is accused of running Joseph D. August, 40, of Smyrna, off the road after a road-rage confrontation Sunday on Del. 11 north of Hartly. August hit a tree and was killed.

According to court records, August and fellow motorcyclist Matthew M. Passwaters, 44, of Bear, were trying to turn left from Del. 44 east to Del. 11 north about 6 p.m. Sunday when Miller cut them off at the intersection.

After cutting the two drivers off, Miller drove west about 100 feet on Del. 44 and stopped his 1992 Chevrolet Suburban. August and Passwaters made a U-turn at the intersection and parked their cycles behind Miller.

The two confronted Miller, damaging the passenger-side mirror and exchanging insulting hand gestures, before driving north on Del. 11, according to court records.

Miller then drove west on Del. 44 and then turned around to find the motorcycle riders after traveling about 3/4 of a mile, police said in court records. Miller's passenger, who was not charged, told police that they talked about retaliating against the motorcyclists and traveled more than 80 mph to catch up with them.

When they did, the Suburban rear-ended August, causing him to slide off the road into a wooded area where he hit a tree and was killed, police said.

An autopsy determined that August died of a hemorrhage from multiple fractures of the spine, sternum and ribs caused by blunt-force trauma, said Jay Lynch, of the Department of Health and Social Services. The death was ruled a homicide.

The Suburban then sideswiped Passwaters' motorcycle, causing him to lose control and crash about 300 feet north of August's crash, police said.

Passwaters was treated at Kent General Hospital for two broken fingers on his right hand and released.

Neither motorcycle operator was wearing a helmet, police said.

The unidentified passenger told detectives that prior to the accident he and Miller had consumed about four or five beers and two mixed drinks at the Touchdown Lounge in Dover, according to court records.

Police said in court records that after the crash, Miller repaired the mirror on the Suburban, changed the registration tag and changed his appearance before heading south to Florida.

State police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham said detectives were told about Miller's identity Monday night after Smyrna police received an anonymous tip.

Detectives went to Miller's home Monday night and learned that he had already left for Florida, Oldham said.

"We were able to make contact with him on his cell phone and convince him to return to Delaware," Oldham said