Millionaire calls personal assistant instead of 911 after car crash, leaving 23 y/o victim to drown

[mike r]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-polo-goodman-phone-20100819,0,113902.story

Records dispute polo mogul's claim that his phone didn't work after fatal Wellington crash
John Goodman called 911 to report deadly accident nearly an hour later
By Andrew Marra, The Palm Beach Post

Moments after allegedly slamming a car into a canal in February, Wellington polo mogul John Goodman used his cell phone to call a personal assistant instead of calling 911, according to cell phone records and Goodman's assistant. It was the only call he made with his cell phone in the moments around the crash. When Palm Beach County Fire Rescue workers arrived at the scene moments later, after another passer-by called 911 to report the wreck, Goodman was gone and the other car's 23-year-old driver had drowned.

Nearly an hour later, Goodman called 911 from the phone of a woman who lived nearby, claiming that his phone had not been working. But his cell phone records, obtained by The Palm Beach Post through a public records request, show that Goodman's phone was working around the time of the crash — at least long enough to make one phone call.

Law enforcement officials say Goodman's single phone call could strengthen their accusation that Goodman willfully ignored his legal obligation to help the crash victim, Scott Wilson, or call for help after sending him careening into the water. Goodman, the multimillionaire owner of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, has been charged with DUI manslaughter with failure to render aid, and vehicular homicide with failure to render aid. "You do have evidence suggesting the phone was operational during or after the crash," Palm Beach County Sheriff's Sgt. John Churchill said. "In one case, it could be a contributor to the crash. In another case, it could be much worse."...

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/goodman-seeks-to-postpone-parents-wrongful-death-suit-699911.html

...Goodman was arrested on charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide with failure to render aid in connection with the Feb. 12 car crash. He was later released on $100,000 bond. According to a sheriff’s report, Goodman was driving his Bentley convertible south on 120th Avenue about 1 a.m. when he ran a stop sign at Lake Worth Road. Goodman was going about 63 mph when he broadsided a 2006 Hyundai being driven by Scott Wilson, the report said. Wilson, who was coming from Orlando to visit his family in Wellington, was flipped into a canal and drowned. According to the report, Goodman ran to a home about a quarter-mile away and borrowed a woman’s cell phone, then called his girlfriend. The woman who lent Goodman the phone then persuaded him to call 911...

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hannah Bell]

2. is this fox chat live? just asking.

[realisticphish]

3. fox chat live 40 years ago, at that

[Hannah Bell]

5. "member of the du activist squad" - jeez. du activists are now kennedy-bashers.

[Snotcicles]

6. I was just thinking WTF. nt

[davidinalameda]

7. what did this guy do that Ted Kennedy didn't

they both left some to die

[digitaln3rd]

14. Sheesh.

It's a joke, lighten up. ><

[DBoon]

4. Doesn't Rush Limbaugh live in Palm Beach?

Might be one of his buddies

[proteus_lives]

10. If it had happened in 2010 instead of '69, then yeah, probably.

[Luciferous]

11. I have to admit, Kennedy was the first thing that popped into my head

after reading the thread title

:shrug:

[LiberalFighter]

8. Did Palm Beach Post make public records request to the police

or the phone company?

It would appear that they did not receive the info from the police. Otherwise, I would think they would had provided it to the public. Or did they have it and were trying to protect the scumbag?

If the Palm Beach Post didn't receive the info from the police then why didn't the police subpoena the info from the phone company?

[Luciferous]

9. He's a millionaire, so he'll probably walk

:eyes:

[AnArmyVeteran]

17. He won't do any jail time. The rich don't have to abide by laws meant for the poor.

I hope the family of the person he murdered will win a civil suit bankrupting the thug. The only way to punish a rich person is to take their wealth away from them.

[Marr]

12. An hour to "run" a quarter mile?

Yeah, right. Sounds like the prick never even *thought* about the other driver. Just went right into "look out for #1" mode. Very polo club.

[readmoreoften]

13. Oh the rich!

[LiberalAndProud]

15. I suspect alcohol was involved.

I'm guessing he drank some coffee before calling.

Also, it's impossible to read this story and not think of Chapaquitic.

[indepat]

16. Hey, this is America, home of privilege to multimillionaires who have little or no obligation to

others or society and certainly no obligation to bear an equitable tax burden to fund the infrastructure necessary to keep him safe and protected as he pursues his life of opulence and privilege. Is it any wonder such a privileged individual would not feel an obligation to render assistance that would possibly have saved a life in this instance when his financially-strapped government is afraid even to ask him to bear some semblance of a fair share of the tax burden to support his lifestyle, to wit: privilege knows no bounds, is ubiquitous, and is holistic? :grr:

The writer realizes this rant is way over the top but wanted to try to capture the mindset seemingly so prevalent among the so many of the privileged in America and believes the privilege of not being required to bear an equitable tax burden contributes mightily to and breeds this mindset of privilege.

[ck4829]

18. Thought he was above the law. Will he be proven right?