Today's Darwin Award: Direct from Atlanta!!<<more info added>>

[Fausto]

You! Out of the Gene Pool!!

The thing I didn't get: this jackass was driving a Navigator. Not a cheap car. And yet, he's writing bad checks at the liquor store.

The interesting bit they left out of the story I linked was that the guy was apparently on the phone with his girlfriend back in Baltimore during the police chase. Her phone suddenly goes dead (this would be him getting pulverized as his car flipped), she freaks out and calls his sister here in Atlanta. The sister shows up at the scene a few minutes after the accident, tries to run over to what's left of his car, cop stops her and tells her the guy is dead. Very surreal.

The crowning glory of all this is that he slid all the way across I-285 ( a really, really busy highway 24-7) and only grazed on other car.

UPDATE: Harrington was wanted in Maryland on a variety of charges, including larceny, resisting arrest, drug charges and failure to appear, Syblis said.

Although police believe they have correctly identified the suspect, he had five identification cards on him at the time of his death, Syblis said. Fingerprint records were being checked to confirm his identity.

Sounds like a real winner....now we know why he ran for it.

Fausto

 

[Capn]

"They are now looking for the driver of another car that fled the scene after clipping the body as it hit the asphalt on eastbound I-285."

:Q

 

[Gunbuster]

<<Police said the crash ejected the driver from the car>>

Haha, I guess Escalades dont come with seat belts

 

[Fausto]

<< They are now looking for the driver of another car that fled the scene after clipping the body as it hit the asphalt on eastbound I-285." >>


hehe...you know that guy needed a new pair of shorts after that. Poor dude driving along and suddenly a huge SUV flies over the median and spits the driver out right in front of you. Still amazing to me that no one else got hurt.

Fausto

 

[Mill]

I mean really. If I hit a friggin' body on 285 I would keep going.

 

[cmdavid]

all for passing a bad check... shame shame.... anybody know possible punishment of passing a bad check?? hehe.... im sure its not sentencing to death...

 

[BigJohnKC]

How can someone who passes bad checks afford a Lincoln Navigator? Aren't those things like 40 grand?

 

[Fausto]

<< How can someone who passes bad checks afford a Lincoln Navigator? Aren't those things like 40 grand? >>


My thoughts exactly. Either he's broke as a result of buying the Navigator and therefore forging checks or he's just a total dumbass. I'm leaning toward the latter theory.

Fausto

 

[mpitts]

Yeah, I have that jackass to thank for my helacious drive home yesterday. I'm glad he died.

 

[PG]

<< How can someone who passes bad checks afford a Lincoln Navigator? Aren't those things like 40 grand? >>


Let's see....a 27 year old with a Navigator......
My guess is that the money came from drugs, but he blew it all on the Navigator.

 

[StageLeft]

Probably a stolen navigator. I saw a show and it said you can buy a brand new mercedes SUV for like $5k if it's hot. Of course you can't register it, get insurance,etc. so it's a big risk.

 

[Fausto]

That would explain why he ran for it. Still, if you're driving a hot car it's really not a great idea to draw attention to yourself by forging checks in it (he went through the drive-thru at the liquor store).

Fausto

 

[Ulfwald]

We had a high speed chase here in Atlanta yesterday. The chase ran for about 18 miles down Georgia 400 to the Atlanta perimeter highway. The person being chased was driving a Lincoln Navigator ? not an inexpensive vehicle ? and had just tried to write a bad check. Alpharetta police say that he tried to run one of their officers over when he fled. That being so --- all bets are off.

I make no secret of my bad feelings for drivers who flee the police --- and for the relatively light treatment they usually get in court. These idiots put the lives of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters in jeopardy with their stunts ? and kill innocent people all too often. When they are captured, as they usually are, they seldom receive harsh punishment or lengthy prison terms.

Well --- this one ended just the way it should have. The video on my desk shows the Navigator (called a ?truck? in the hold), being driven by Damien Lamont Harrington of Baltimore, Md., on the curving ramp from Georgia 400 Southbound to I-285. Harrington is passing cars on the right and left on this single-lane ramp. He finally clips another car trying to squeeze through on the right. His SUV swerves to the left, crosses the Southbound 400 lanes and flips. As if flips over you clearly see Harrington thrown from the SUV ? into the air ? over the median divider ? and into the Northbound 400 lanes where he is promptly creamed by a Northbound car.

In my insensitive mind this chase ended exactly the way it should One dangerous criminal ? a threat to the safety of far too many people yesterday afternoon ? is out of the gene pool, permanently. I have absolutely not one ounce of pity for this SOB. He threatened the lives of others ? and lost his. The one person I do feel badly for is the poor sap heading North who finished him off.

Now .. just how could this video save lives? Obviously the now late Damien Lamont Harrington wasn?t wearing a seat belt. Remove the drama of attempting to run over a police officer and a high-speed chase and all you really have here is a simple loss of control and a roll-over. If he had stayed in the car ? if he had fastened his seat belts ? he might have survived. With no seat belt he got thrown out of that SUV and launched into the air like he was shot out of a cannon. As Scott Slade told me this morning, ?all of those wonderful automobile safety features aren?t any good once you leave the car.?

I have some friends who still won?t wear their seatbelts ? though they darned sure do when they?re in MY car. I?ll show them this video. Maybe they?ll take the hint. I have no doubt that if this video were shown on every television news show out there it would save lives ? but then the Harrington family might sue.



From Nealz Nuze

 

[Miramonti]

I have some friends who still won?t wear their seatbelts ? though they darned sure do when they?re in MY car.

 

[ratkil]

Several times people have pondered someone driving an expensive car while trying to pass bad checks. What possible correlation is there for having an expensive car and having money?!? The car someone drives is in no way a indicator of what money they have. Keep in mind, debt is a wonderful poser enabler............

 

[MoMeanMugs]

<< Haha, I guess Escalades dont come with seat belts >>



Well it's a good thing he was driving a Navigator otherwise he would have been flying like Blankman.

 

[Fausto]

update bump...see first post

 

[BigJohnKC]

Dare I ask....anyone have the video?

 

[Soulflare]

I think it will take a lot more than that to win a Darwin Award. He's probably one of hundreds
who died while driving yesterday (worldwide).

 

[BigJohnKC]

I found some pics - but no pics of the body flying out of the car.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I wonder if his firestone tires lost their tread and caused him to flip. I can imagine some scum bag lawyer trying to get that case.

 

[pcmodem]

<< You! Out of the Gene Pool!! >>




Amusingly enough, I found out a month ago while telling my mom about a Darwin Award joke that she was involved in one of the cases. She's an attorney. She had to represent the manufacturer of a machine that killed a person... though obviously the person died through gross negligence on their own behalf.
-PCM

 

[Fausto]

<< She's an attorney. She had to represent the manufacturer of a machine that killed a person... though obviously the person died through gross negligence on their own behalf. >>


You've just neatly summed up why I am a biologist and not an attorney.

Fausto

 

[yakko]

Well at least no one important was injured.