Driver of car that crashed in Olney held on $500K bail

 

Prosecutors say he was seen drinking before the accident

 

The 20-year-old driver of the car that crashed early Sunday morning in Olney, resulting in the death of three of his friends, had attended two parties and was seen drinking alcohol before the accident, county prosecutors said.

At a bail review Monday afternoon in Montgomery County District Court, Judge William G. Simmons ordered the driver, Kevin Coffay, of Rockville, be held on a $500,000 bail on four counts of hit and run and one charge of evading a uniformed police officer on foot.

If Coffay's family pays the 10 percent, or $50,000, required to release him from jail, Coffay would be placed on a 24-hour curfew, barred from contacting the victims' families and friends, and forced to undergo drug and alcohol treatment and forfeit his passport, Simmons said in court.

Under the charges, Coffay faces a maximum sentence of 11 years and four months in prison, according to State's Attorney John McCarthy.

While McCarthy described Coffay's actions as callous, Coffay's defense attorney, Michael J. McAuliffe of Rockville, said they were "consistant with a panicked young man."

McAuliffe told Simmons the thing to do was reduce Coffay's bail amount so his family could get him to treatment. With a 58-year-old father in a nursing home suffering from advanced Alzheimer's and a mother fighting cancer, going to jail would make the situation for Coffay and his family worse, McAuliffe said in court.

Before the bail review, McAuliffe, of Rockville, spoke of what Coffay and his family have gone through in the past two days.

"He's broken to pieces," he said. "The family is hurting too badly right now."

In court, McCarthy argued that the initial $500,000 bond remain in effect. He said the surviving passenger, Charles Nardella, 19, of Gaithersburg told investigators that he, Coffay, 18-year-old Spencer Datt of Derwood, 18-year-old Haeley N. McGuire of Rockville and 20-year-old John Hoover of Rockville attended two parties before the 2007 Toyota Corolla crashed on eastbound Olney-Laytonsville Road (Route 108) after 3 a.m. Sunday.

Before the accident, Coffay was seen drinking at the parties, McCarthy said in court.

Upon the car coming to a stop after crashing into a telephone pole and two trees, Coffay left the accident scene without checking on his friends or alerting police, McCarthy said in court. Coffay told police "they were all fine" when he left the passengers, McCarthy said.

Datt, Hoover and McGuire were killed. Datt was declared dead at the crash scene, while Hoover was declared dead at 3:38 a.m. Sunday upon arriving at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney. McGuire died at a Washington, D.C., hospital at 6:52 a.m. Sunday, according to charging documents.

Nardella was taken to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. His condition was not available Monday afternoon.

According to Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Dana Tofig, Coffay, Datt, Hoover and Nardella were graduates of Col. Zadok Magruder High School in Derwood, and McGuire was a senior.

Upon leaving the accident scene, Coffay fled through the woods, where police ordered him to stop on two occasions, McCarthy said. Without stopping, Coffay fled to a friend's house, who dropped him off at his Rockville house, where police were waiting for him.

When meeting Coffay outside his house, police officers noticed he had bloodshot eyes and smelled alcohol on his breath, McCarthy said in court.

Outside District Court in Rockville following the bail review, McCarthy said the investigation into the accident is continuing and more charges could be imposed on Coffay depending on the outcome.

The results of a blood test performed on Coffay after police caught him are pending, McCarthy said.

"As the parents of four kids, this is a tough moment," McCarthy said after the hearing.

He and McAuliffe know Datt's and Hoover's fathers, both of whom are lawyers in Montgomery County, they said.

After the hearing, McAuliffe appeared shaken by the accident.

"I know he could be any of our kids," McAuliffe said.

In the meantime, grief counselors were on hand Monday at Magruder.

Sierra Breese, a sophomore, said after school that she knew Datt and McGuire.

"It hurt so much," she said. "Even if you didn't know them, you were crying because of the sadness."

Students hugged and consoled each other throughout the day.