Sweet Home police last week cited the driver of a van that struck and killed a 93-year-old Sweet Home man on June 21.
Florinda Kaye Ericksen, 41, of Independence, was cited for operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile communication device. Police said she was using her cell phone when her westbound van came over the brow of the hill and struck Wallace L. “Fritz” Cole, who was riding a power scooter across the highway from Hilltop Market to Wiley Creek Community, where he lived.
Police Chief Bob Burford said the citation was based on “the totality of investigation, including statements of witnesses at the scene; forensic evidence obtained from the scene and vehicle, plus cell phone records, etc.”
He said reports from the Linn County Major Accident Investigation Team and Sweet Home police investigators were sent, along with other evidentiary materials, to the District Attorney’s Office for review.
“The DA’s Office notified us last week that they would not be bringing any criminal charges,” Burford said Friday. “Once that information was received by SHPD we issued the citation to Ericksen for the violation of the underlying cause of the accident – cell phone use. This is a violation only, and not a criminal offense.”
He said the time that elapsed between the accident and the citation had “little or nothing” to do with the department’s diminished staffing levels.
“These things sometimes just take time,” Burford said.