Two inmates hit during road cleanup
By Erin Elaine Mosely
Montgomery Advertiser
Autauga County deputy coroners examine the victim of a car accident Tuesday on Interstate 65.
-- Erin Elaine Mosely AdvertiserAUTAUGA COUNTY -- An Indiana man faces charges after his car struck two state inmates who were picking up trash in the highway median, killing one and critically injuring the other Tuesday morning.
Donald Biester, of Decatur, Ind., was driving south on Interstate 65 when he veered off the road and hit the two inmates at about 11:15 a.m., said Trooper Donald Frazier, public information officer for the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
Randall Houston, district attorney for Alabama's 19th Judicial Circuit, said Biester faces charges of leaving the scene of the accident. The incident is still under investigation and additional charges could follow depending on the evidence.
The identity of the deceased inmate was not released, pending notification of next of kin. Troopers on the scene said the man has no relatives in-state.
John Schultz, 24, was transported to Jackson Hospital in critical condition, but his condition was upgraded to stable later in the day. Schultz, of Mobile, was serving a three-year sentence in the Elmore County Correctional Facility for possession of a controlled substance.
The men were picking up trash in the highway median when the accident happened. The State Department of Corrections had 19 inmates working along the interstate.
Brian Corbett, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, said the department followed all the regulations in the state manual on uniform traffic control devices. He said he does not anticipate stoppage of the program after Tuesday's incident.
"All (inmates) were wearing orange reflective vests, two different signs were posted on the interstate, and there was a bus with strobe lights flashing," Corbett said.
"There were signs up letting people know inmates were working, so they could slow down," Frazier said. "Hopefully, they would slow down."
This is the second work release inmate to be killed in two years while working along the roadway in Montgomery. Three more inmates also were injured in an April 2003 accident at Northern Boulevard and I-65, Corbett said. The State Department of Corrections stopped using work squads for about a month after that accident.
Inmates who participate in the work release program can volunteer for a specific duty, or be assigned to one "as long as they have minimum to medium security clearance to work outside of a defensive facility," Corbett said.
Autauga County Coroner Billy Brown said the accident is still under investigation by the state troopers. Any additional evidence will determine whether Biester will face additional charges, Houston said.
"At this point, this individual is facing two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injury, which is a felony," Houston said. "Depending on the facts, (separate charges) can go from manslaughter to murder, but that's later."
If someone leaves the scene of accident in which someone is hurt or killed, it is a class C felony. Biester faces a year and day to 10 years if found guilty.
-- Staff writer Julie Arrington contributed to this story
