Gaston county

J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I represent myself on a traffic ticket?”

A 38-year-old Gaston County woman has been charged with reckless driving after a school bus crash that injured 23 middle school students, despite the fact that a North Carolina State Trooper said the crash was not caused by “something she was doing.”

The driver—Annette Phillips—was charged Thursday after the school bus she was driving flipped on its side on a curvy stretch of Chapel Grove Road in rural southwestern Gaston County. Phillips was transporting students home from Southwest Middle School in Gastonia. According to WCCB, Phillips own son was riding on the bus at the time of the accident.

Trooper John Burgin told WBTV that an overhead storage compartment door fell open, causing a distraction and blocking Phillips’ line of site. When Phillips tried to clear her line of site, she ran the bus off the right side of the road, then overcorrected to the left, tipping the bus on its side.

Troopers say the bus was traveling anywhere from 30 to 40 miles per hour before the crash. The posted speed limit in the area is 45 miles-per-hour, but the stretch of Chapel Grove Road where the crash occurred bends sharply over a creek and up a steep hill. Warning signs advise drivers not to exceed 25 miles-per-hour around the curves, but troopers conceded those warnings are only suggestions.

J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “If I have an outstanding warrant, what should I do?”

A Gaston County woman did not drown in the ocean near North Myrtle Beach on July 5. Police are sure of that, but they do not know where Amy Lynette Arrington is. Her husband, Paul Arrington, reported her missing, and initial news reports focused on Mrs. Arrington’s last-known whereabouts: she was last seen on the beach near 24^th Avenue North wearing a red bathing suit with a floral design and brown trim. Police used jet skis and boats to locate her.

Now police say Mr. Arrington’s report was false. They have charged him with filing a false police report and said they have reserved the right to seek repayment for costs associated with searching for Mrs. Arrington.

Questions about Mr. Arrington’s missing person story were raised after it was revealed that Mrs. Arrington was supposed to appear in court in Charlotte for trial the following Monday. She was charged with identity theft in October 2013 after she allegedly used another woman’s account to buy thousands of dollars of merchandise on Amazon.com and pay cable and bank bills.

Mrs. Arrington reportedly has a long criminal history, with convictions in Wake, Union and Mecklenburg Counties. If she faked her own death or disappearance to avoid her day of legal reckoning, she is not alone. In fact, faking one’s death or disappearance to avoid court is quite common.
In 2011, a Tennessee woman accused of stealing $2,500 from a Macy’s department store had her case dropped after court officials received a death certificate showing the woman had died in Kentucky from a drug overdose.

Articles Tagged with Gaston county

Trooper says accident not bus driver’s fault, charges her with reckless driving anyway

Woman’s apparent disappearing act to avoid court anything but new