Man charged with drunken driving after fatal Illinois accident
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Newton Keene, 46, was reportedly drunk behind the wheel when he drove into oncoming traffic on Illinois 255 Thursday and caused a crash that killed three people, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
The report says that Keene got on the highway going the wrong way and crashed into a car killing a woman and her friend as well as one of her two children. The names of the victims have not yet been released.
Keene and the other child were in serious condition after the accident.
Keene was charged with three counts of reckless homicide, aggravated drunken driving and aggravated reckless driving.
The Post Dispatch reported also that this is not the first time Keene has had problems with alcohol behind the wheel. He has been convicted six times for various drunken driving crimes and had his license revoked in Illinois and Missouri.
What happened was tragic and all the more so because it could have been avoided. With Keene’s record, it’s hard to see how he was able to get behind the wheel at all. He could be facing significant jail time from criminal charges and lots of damages from a civil lawsuit should an Illinois personal injury attorney be called in to investigate the case.
In drunken driving cases, both a criminal case and a civil suit may result where a driver is sued for damages in separate proceedings. DUI accident cases require an extra level of knowledge, so anyone injured in a drunk driving accident should make sure to find a car accident lawyer that has experience with DUI cases.
