State Trooper hits skater in West Virginia resulting in death..

**skategeezer** · 03-25-2008 06:56 AM

another senseless death....

Monday March 24, 2008
State trooper hits, kills skateboarding boy
Child may have been riding the skateboard in road

by Zack Pettit
Daily Mail staff

A 12-year-old Raleigh County boy was killed early Saturday morning when he was struck by a police cruiser while he was skateboarding, police said.
Curtis Dwayne Webb, of Dickenson Avenue in Beckley, was struck while riding his skateboard about 12:05 a.m., according to a press release from West Virginia State Police Sgt. D.L. Bowles.
The police cruiser was traveling southbound on W.Va. 16 in Crab Orchard and operated by Trooper H.D. Stone of the Beckley detachment, the release said.
Preliminary investigations suggest Webb was riding the skateboard in the road, the release said.
Police were not available to comment any further on the investigation.

**rawls** · 03-25-2008 07:32 AM

12yr old at 12:05AM! did the boy sneak out of the house or something?

**elementalzoo** · 03-25-2008 08:09 AM

I snuck out of the house frequently at that age and those hours

I could get in and out through my bedroom window, and my folks didn't know the difference. If they'd known, trust me, I'd have been nuked then ankle chained at night when I went to bed

So don't jump to quick ot blame the parents.

It's an unfortunate accident. The kid's gone and the cop has to live with snuffing a twelve year old.

It makes a great case for why older skaters need to mentor younger ones in the sense if you see a grom going wayward in such a manner he or she isn't comprehending that death is final and forever, to at least say something to them. So long as it's not said in a confrontational way. I hate hearing these old puckers screeching at the younger kids in parks instead of showing them some respect and talking to them like intelligent beings.

**palidon11** · 03-25-2008 08:16 AM

wtf is with all these young kids getting hit by cars?

does this happen alot?

**elementalzoo** · 03-25-2008 09:03 AM

palidon, you have to look at stuff like this in context though. It does happen but not just to skaters. Bicyclists are killed way more often by cars.

Skateboarding is dangerous but more importantly, distracted drivers are lethal. And cops, though trained to pay attention, are also having to look at equipment in their cars, talk to dispatch and people on wheels are notorious from coming out of nowhere and having no way to adjust at the last second before impact. Mix in drivers talking on cell phones and text msging, you just have to be a 'defensive skater' because most drivers are not looking for skaters. Heck, they barely look for motorcycle riders you know?

As kids, life is lived in a kind of live in a bubble when doing things. The focus is on the fun by and large and they haven't experienced enough tragedy yet to know that there's no such thing as 'safe' when skateboarding and staying alert is necessary. That's probably why you see more reports of young kids dieing

**mangels** · 03-28-2008 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by skategeezer

Preliminary investigations suggest Webb was riding the skateboard in the road, the release said.

Wouldn't the dash-cam video show that? Or don't they have that running at all times? I'm not being angry or anything - just wondering. Very sad story.

**MJKam11** · 03-28-2008 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by mangels

Wouldn't the dash-cam video show that? Or don't they have that running at all times? I'm not being angry or anything - just wondering. Very sad story.

They don't have it running (normally) when they're just cruising.

**DELETED** · 03-28-2008 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by MJKam11

They don't have it running (normally) when they're just cruising.

Yeah, my local PD's dashcams only turn on when the officer turns on the lights or decides to turn it on.

This is really sad, and good reason why you need to be aware of your surroundings. Assume cars don't see you and yield to them. If you must night skate, get some of those flashing blinkers cyclists use. I always bust my friend's asses about looking around, I've seen skaters completely oblivious to a car trailing behind them. If possible, ride in the oncoming lane so it's harder to have cars sneak up on you AND ALWAYS LOOK AROUND YOU

**jmasta** · 03-29-2008 02:08 PM

i doubt that pig even gets a slap on the wrist. after all, this is america. cops can get away with murder... literally. wouldn't this be 2nd degree vehicular homicide for any normal person??

poor kid. he would have been a gnarly skater

**smallhillrider** · 03-29-2008 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by palidon11

wtf is with all these young kids getting hit by cars?

does this happen alot?

Not trying to offend anyone, but I see quite a lot of kids, especially around 15 yrs old, including my friends, that skate in the middle of the road. They ollie this 5 stair into the middle of a busy bycicle path at rush-hour... so yeah.

Seems a little late to skate, but I've done it before and it's awsome!

**Buddywolfe** · 03-29-2008 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by jmasta

i doubt that pig even gets a slap on the wrist. after all, this is america. cops can get away with murder... literally. wouldn't this be 2nd degree vehicular homicide for any normal person??

poor kid. he would have been a gnarly skater

you really can't say anything, you weren't there
he is probably killing himself inside for what happened
Turns out cops are just people in uniforms

**jmasta** · 03-29-2008 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by Buddywolfe

you really can't say anything, you weren't there
he is probably killing himself inside for what happened
Turns out cops are just people in uniforms

no doubt the trooper is having a hard time coping. i mean everytime i accidentally run over innocent children, it takes me some time to adjust. all i'm sayin is that if he wasn't a cop, his ass would be sitting in jail

**Cheefa** · 03-29-2008 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by jmasta

no doubt the trooper is having a hard time coping. i mean everytime i accidentally run over innocent children, it takes me some time to adjust. all i'm sayin is that if he wasn't a cop, his ass would be sitting in jail

and if it was a drunk driver we would hear no end of it! but our justice system isn't exactly fair or very functional. Cops feel like they're powerful with their little guns on their belts, and the worst part is they are jumpy, and get threatened by anything. I once called the cops because at 1-2 am people were drag racing in my neighborhood and kicking over mailboxes. When the cop pulled up to me by myself in my driveway he got out of the car with his hand on his gun as if I was going to try and kill him. I was 14 for Christ sake and It's not like I looked threatening in any way, I was in my boxers.

**rkd350z** · 03-29-2008 04:36 PM

how fast was the police going? 50+mph????

I doubt that kid was skating on Blvd or some big street, It was probably small neighbor street...

Fuk that Cop...

**a_speck_of_dust** · 03-29-2008 05:07 PM

my brother and i got stopped by cops before. theyd ask, "why are you guys wherreing moto helmets?" and we just say "why not?" and sometimes they just wanna know what kinda board we got. there was this 50 something dude that stopped me once and said, "wow, i remember going down signal hill back in '77. look where youre at now"

cops are cool

**jmasta** · 03-29-2008 05:23 PM

^ some cops are cool

i know some chill cops who are fiends with my dad. however there's 2 sides to the story. i've had a cop drawn his gun and point it at my face for letting him know i had a knife in my pocket while he frisked me

"don't bring a knife to a gun fight, boy! i don't want to explain to your parents why i shot you"

i mean come on. i was only a stoned 16 year old boy with a 7" mohawk

**RastamanD** · 03-29-2008 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by rkd350z

how fast was the police going? 50+mph????

I doubt that kid was skating on Blvd or some big street, It was probably small neighbor street...

Fuk that Cop...

he was a state trooper which is like our Hwy patrol...according to the story the kid was hit on Hwy 16....since when is it a good idea to skate on the highway..i fell bad about the kid but damn. don't call the cop names either he accidentally hit the kid...sure you should always be prepared for a accident but at 12:06 in the morning and on the highway.....would you expect to see a pedestrian?

here is a link that shows the countys that hwy 16 passes through..raliegh is one of them

West Virginia Route 16 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**RastamanD** · 03-29-2008 05:29 PM

oh i just saw this about the city too.....wow

Crab Orchard is famous, historically, as the city that Senator Robert Byrd organized for the Ku Klux Klan. After Byrd had collected the $10 joining fee and $3 charge for a robe and hood from every applicant, the Grand Dragon Joel L. Baskin for the mid-Atlantic states came down to Crab Orchard, to officially organize the chapter... "When it came time to choose the Exalted Cyclops, the top officer in the local Klan unit, Byrd won unanimously."[1]

from this Crab Orchard, West Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Cheefa** · 03-29-2008 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by jmasta

^ some cops are cool

i know some chill cops who are fiends with my dad. however there's 2 sides to the story. i've had a cop drawn his gun and point it at my face for letting him know i had a knife in my pocket while he frisked me

"don't bring a knife to a gun fight, boy! i don't want to explain to your parents why i shot you"

i mean come on. i was only a stoned 16 year old boy with a 7" mohawk

yeah dude I mean I didn't mean that about all cops, some are really cool. my neighbor is an x cop who does undercover now, he's pretty. I just hate the power hungry cops who think they run it all, and the ones that hide where the speed limit drops off really sudden and pull almost everyone over...