Woodsboro man escapes manslaughter charge in 2012 wreck
By Jessica Priest, Victoria Advocate, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Now, almost two years later, a case has ended for the man charged with causing the road rage wreck that cut the father of two's work trip and life short.
He was sentenced to 10 years probation and fined
In exchange, the state dismissed his manslaughter charge stemming from the same
"The stronger case was the accident involving personal injury or death, and we agreed to that after discussing the facts of the case with the victim's family," Refugio County Assistant District Attorney
When Buff's boss,
Buff was a driver for
He'd probably made the trip to
"He was the kind of guy that I could discipline and correct him about something, and he would make me feel good about it afterward," Kollaja, 62, said.
Buff, 51, of
He was behind a tractor-trailer, driven by
Starr slowed to turn right from the outside lane without signaling and thought Hmeidan was too close.
The two argued, and Starr pursued Hmeidan, passing and cutting him off, which forced him to stop the tractor-trailer on the roadway.
Buff hit his breaks but not soon enough.
His truck's cab hit the right hand corner of the tractor-trailer before rolling into the grass and stopping at a fence.
Buff died instantly, and Starr fled the scene, according to the report.
"The DPS asked me, 'Well, do you want us to go notify his family?' And first, I said, 'yes.' Then, right away, I just said, 'No, no, I have to do this,'" Kollaja said. "He was an innocent victim."
Kollaja is considering suing Starr in civil court to recoup damages.
He has been denied access to photos from the wreck so far.
"When you have an employer who has an employee killed on the job, they (insurance companies) don't care whose fault it was. We got our insurance canceled. Nobody wanted to touch us," he said.
Defense Attorney
"
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