Albemarle County police this week charged two county teenagers with three counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. An alcohol-related car accident that killed a 16-year-old girl and injured two other passengers in July prompted police to investigate the teenagers and press charges.
Albemarle County police charged Charlottesville residents Daniel Leake, 18, and Blake Via, 19 each with three alcohol-related misdemeanors. Police are not releasing details of the alcohol involvement.
Via was charged on Monday and Leake was arrested Wednesday and subsequently charged.
Police relate Leake's and Via's charges to a car accident that occurred July 16 shortly before 2 a.m. A 1995 Honda Civic carrying three teenage girls ran off the road and struck a tree one-half mile north of Route 676 on Earlysville Road in Albemarle County, after leaving a party where alcohol was served. An Albemarle High School student hosted the party at their home.
Albemarle Police neither would confirm nor deny if Leake and Via were responsible for providing the alcohol.
Passenger Brittany Hope Bishop died in the crash. She was 16 and would have been a senior at Albemarle High School this fall.
Driver Kirstin Zamorski, 17, was admitted to the University Medical Center after the crash -- doctors there say she might have permanent brain damage.
University Medical Center staff confirmed that Zamorski still is under hospital care.
Samantha Hoy, the car's other passenger, was mildly injured.
Police confirmed that Zamorski was not wearing a seat belt when the accident occurred.
Commonwealth Attorney Jim Camblos told The Daily Progress that the investigation is ongoing, but that charges against Zamorski, the vehicle's driver, are not planned.
"At this point, we do not feel that any additional charges will be placed against the driver, period," Catlin said. "The investigation is for the most part completed."
The misdemeanor charges against Blake and Via are the result of a two-month investigation that included interviews with more than 30 people and crime samples analyzed in Richmond.
Uniformed police and detectives "interviewed people at the party, people who were associated with the possible obtaining of alcohol, parents and others," Albemarle County spokeswoman Lee Catlin said. "The lab tests had to do with the blood alcohol content of the passengers in the car."
Leake and Via will have their preliminary hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court because they have been charged with an offense against a minor. The hearing is scheduled for Oct. 21.
Drunk driving doesn't only affect Albemarle teens but also can effect a lot of University students. According to Marianne Bonday, assistant director of the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education, 84 percent of University students that participated in the 2002 Health Promotion Survey responded that they did not drive while intoxicated.
Bonday added that even with the positive statistics, CASE works to ensure that underage University students have ways to get home safely without driving drunk.
"We've distributed Yellow Cab cards to all the first years, and also through various means to some of the upperclassmen," Bonday said. "It's a deal we have with Yellow Cab where students can call the company, charge the fare to the Office of the Dean of Students, get the ride home and reimburse the dean of students within the next few weeks."
The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team, a peer education effort run through CASE, worked with merchants on the Corner to develop a designated driver program, separate from the Yellow Cab arrangement.
"Most of the Corner merchants will provide non-alcoholic drinks to people who present themselves as a designated driver," Bonday said.
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