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Driver charged in wake of I-64 tow truck crash

By Jim Lewis

The driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a tow truck driver in Newport News on Aug. 9 has been charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

William Charles Burns, 51, of Newport News, was already in the Newport News Jail on drunken-driving charges, the Daily Press reported, and was served with manslaughter paperwork Monday night.

Burns is accused of killing Andy Starmer, 36, a tow truck driver who was hooking a car up to his truck on I-64 near Victory Boulevard when he was struck. Starmer was working on the westbound shoulder of I-64 when he was run over by Burns, the Daily Press reported.

Starmer had asked the driver of the disabled vehicle he was tending to to stand in a safer place, according to WTKR-TV.

"His last words were to tell the motorist that he needed to go to the other side of truck because it was dangerous out there and he would appreciate him standing to the side of the truck," Clarence Patrick, Starmer's boss at Superior Towing, told WTKR. "When that guy comes by to tow your car for a flat tire or something. He's basically in the line of traffic putting his life on the line. He really is."

Starmer is survived by his wife, Shannon K. Starmer; one son, William B. Starmer; mother, Ima E. Starmer; father and stepmother, Albert H. and Dianna H. Starmer; two sisters, Judy Coleman and Sally Holt, according to his obituary.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper,Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

(MM)

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Full post as published by Norfolk-Portsmouth Personal Injury Lawyer on August 13, 2009 (boomark / email).