Man pleads guilty in drunken driving death

Bill Gang

Monday, Sept. 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

After languishing in a coma for seven months, a tow truck driver who was run down as he was loading a disabled car onto his truck finally died.

The criminal case against the drunken driver responsible for his death languished in court for another seven months.

On Friday, however, Robert Alan Donnelly pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge that is guaranteed to put him in prison.

In the deal, Donnelly will receive a sentence of no more than 3 1/2 to eight years. The maximum sentence for a DUI involving death or bodily harm is eight to 20 years. The law requires a minimum sentence of two years and prohibits the possibility of probation.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 30 in District Court.

As part of the plea bargain, Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said a reckless driving count will be dismissed over the July 26, 1995, collision that led to the death of Lance Quaintance.

The incident on the Charleston Boulevard on-ramp to southbound U.S. 95 occurred when a 1994 Kia driven by Donnelly slammed into the car Quaintance was loading.

That disabled vehicle hit Quaintance and knocked him 20 to 30 feet into the air, Booker said. Quaintance died Feb. 16 of his injuries.

A Clark County grand jury indictment alleged that Donnelly was driving too fast and weaving in and out of traffic when his car struck the Dodge that Quintance was loading.

According to the indictment, Donnelly's blood-alcohol level was over the 0.10 percent necessary to prove drunken driving.