Richard Petty Charged
Gerry Bennett
I just heard that Richard Petty had been charged with "hit and run" and
wreckless driving. The news item gave no details.
Anyone know what happened?
--
Gerry Bennett
bq...@FreeNet.carleton.ca
Fidonet 1:163/335.36
Richmond, Ontario, Canada.
Wayne Mann
bq...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Gerry Bennett) wrote:
>I just heard that Richard Petty had been charged with "hit and run" and
>wreckless driving. The news item gave no details.
>Anyone know what happened?
>--
N.C. candidate and NASCAR star Petty charged with hit and
run
Copyright © 1996 Nando.net
Copyright © 1996 The Associated Press
09/19/96
RALEIGH, N.C. (Sep 19, 1996 11:12 a.m. EDT) -- NASCAR racing
great and
secretary of state candidate Richard Petty faces reckless
driving and hit and run
charges after he allegedly bumped the rear of a car he was
trying to pass,
authorities said.
Petty was charged Wednesday with hit and run and reckless
driving in connection
with an accident involving James Forest Rassette in Cabarrus
County last week.
Tom Grady, a Concord lawyer who described himself as Petty's
friend,
downplayed the incident.
"I have not had a chance to talk to Mr. Petty other than to
tell you that, again, it
was a very, very minor incident," Grady told the News &
Observer of Raleigh. "I
have talked to Mr. Rassette. He realized it was a minor
incident and hopefully we
can have it resolved. Certainly Mr. Petty regrets that
anything's ever happened and
so does Mr. Rassette."
Rassette declined to comment on the incident, and attempts
to reach Petty were
unsuccessful Wednesday night.
State Highway Patrol officials said the accident happened on
Interstate 85 as Petty
was trying to pass another driver. Petty is accused of
bumping the car from
behind, then passing it and driving away.
Petty is scheduled to appear in Cabarrus County District
Court on Oct. 16 at 9:30
a.m. on the charges, both misdemeanors, Renee Hoffman,
spokeswoman for the
state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said.
The incident occurred at about 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday when
Rassette was
driving north on I-85 from Charlotte. Rassette told
authorities that a green pickup
came up behind him and flashed its lights. Rassette slowed
down and tried to move
out of the left lane. At that point, the truck bumped him
and kept going, Hoffman
said.
Hoffman said Rassette reported the incident to a state
trooper, described the truck
and gave the license number. The trooper pulled Petty over
several miles up the
road, she said.
Petty is the Republican nominee for secretary of state. He
is running against
Democrat Elaine Marshall for the post.
Marshall, campaigning Wednesday night in Reidsville, said
the incident was
another thing for voters to consider.
"It's something that's a court action, and that's something
that will have to take its
course," she told the News & Record of Greensboro. "It's
just one more thing the
voters will have to look at."
Capt. H.M. Overcash, the N.C. Highway Patrol troop commander
overseeing the
investigation, said Rassette said his pickup was hit three
to four times from behind.
"Mr. Rassette said that he slowed down, and it's my opinion
that he assumed the
truck hit him on purpose," Overcash said.
\\/ayne //\ann
Hillary commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents
"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our
papers. We are the president."
James B. Stewart - Blood Sport: