DWI HIT PARADE: St. Mary’s Sheriff: Alcohol and speed led to fatal crash of Franklin Bowles; prior DUI and speeding tickets given plea deals

DWI HIT PARADE: St. Mary’s Sheriff: Alcohol and speed led to fatal crash of Franklin Bowles; prior DUI and speeding tickets given plea deals

LOVEVILLE, MD. – Speed, booze, and trees didn’t mix for a Loveville man, according to the crash report from St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron.  The Sheriff reports that on March 25, 2017, at approximately 2:18 am, patrol units from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to a serious motor vehicle collision on Loveville Road in the area of Lenny Penny Lane in Loveville, Maryland. Deputies located a 1999 Ford F-350 pickup truck in the roadway.  The operator, Franklin Irvin Bowles, age 27 of Loveville, was pronounced deceased by EMS personnel.

The St. Mary’s County Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene and continued the investigation. The initial investigation revealed the vehicle was traveling northbound on Loveville Road when for unknown reasons the vehicle crossed the centerline and left the roadway.  Upon leaving the roadway, the vehicle struck a tree and fence.

The Sheriff reports that speed and alcohol appear to be contributing factors.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or any events leading up to the collision is asked to call Corporal Brandon Foor at 301-475-4200, ext. 2265.

Bowles, of Wakefield Lane, in Loveville, entered a guilty plea to speeding on Aug. 29, 2014, in St. Mary’s District Court.

In Prince Georges County District Court, Bowles entered a guilty plea on Aug. 26, 2014, to operating a 2010 GMC at 85 mph in a 55-mph speed zone and was fined $44.50 and given probation before judgment in a plea deal with the Prince George’s County States Attorney. A charge of negligent driving and operating in a careless and imprudent manner was dropped as part of the plea deal.

Bowles was charged with DWI by a Maryland State Trooper on March 3, 2012, at 2:13 am when he was stopped on Rt. 5 at Morganza Turner Road. In a plea deal with St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz, Bowles pleaded guilty and was given Probation Before Judgement on May 23, 2012, with thirty days in jail, with all of the jail time suspended and fine of $185.  The plea deal with Fritz was negotiated by a taxpayer-provided free attorney, Kevin R. Hill.

The average cost of any Uber ride from one point to another in this area is $25.  The cost of a DUI attorney can range from $5,000 to $10,000. The price of a funeral can range from $7,000 upwards.  The cost to a family suffering from the mayhem brought by speeding and impaired drivers can soar into the millions when their loved one is maimed.  The cost to families suffering from grief is without comprehension.