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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Christmas crash driver sent to prison, ordered to pay restitution to victims
DAYTON — The man convicted of causing a Christmas Day traffic accident that injured five children, including one girl who lost part of her leg, was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday, May 26.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Hall also ordered Olajuwon Howard to pay $36,633 in restitution to four of the children.
Howard, 23, pleaded guilty May 12, to four counts of vehicular assault and one count of failure to stop after an accident. During his sentencing hearing, he broke down in tears as told Hall that it was an accident.
“I would never intentionally hit no car with no kids,” Howard said. “I got two kids. I don’t go around ramming people’s cars. I didn’t even know there was no kids in the car.”
Hall told Howard that he understood that it was an accident, but said Howard had been driving without a license and was trying to avoid the police at the time of the crash.
“People wind up having to be responsible for what they do,” Hall said.
Police arrested Howard at the scene of the accident, which happened about 4:30 p.m. Dec. 25 at Mia and Kammer avenues. The accident occurred as six people in a Pontiac Grand Am were driving along Kammer Avenue on their way to a Christmas celebration.
Howard, driving an Oldsmobile Intrigue, ran a stop sign at Mia and struck the Grand Am, which then veered into a house, doing structural damage and rupturing a gas line. Two of the children were trapped under the car.
Two of the children suffered brain injuries. Another girl, who was 7, was trapped under the car and had part of her leg amputated.
The children have been plagued by nightmares since the event, Sharon Taste told the court. Taste is the aunt of all five children.
“Imagine a 7-year-old child viewing life as unfair, at a time when her life has just begun,” Taste said. “Imagine a 9-year-old child questioning whether life is worth living.”
