Three Victims, One System That Failed

STATEMENT OF HONOR, TRUST, AND INTEGRITY AT THE END

There’s a difference between an accident… and a failure of accountability.

That night, three people were on the road—separate lives, separate vehicles, all traveling in the same direction. What none of them knew was that behind them was someone the community had once trusted to protect it.

A former deputy.

A man publicly recognized as a hero—featured in the news and awarded for jumping into a pond to save a man suffering from dementia. A moment that defined him as someone who protects others.

That same man was driving at more than twice the posted speed limit.

According to the responding officer’s account, he was impaired—arguing or distracted after a night of conflict with a passenger—long enough to lose awareness of what was directly in front of him. At the last possible second, he looked up and saw a motorcycle.

He swerved left, barely missing it.

And then everything unraveled.

He struck a blue SUV with devastating force, crushing it. The SUV spun across three lanes of traffic before colliding with two motorcycles—the very ones he had tried to avoid.

Three victims.
Three lives permanently altered.

The driver of the blue SUV suffered a severe head injury requiring staples.
One rider suffered a broken leg.
The other suffered a catastrophic wrist injury—multiple surgeries later, it will never function the same again.

That’s what happened on the road.

But what happened after is just as important.

Because accountability didn’t follow the damage.

There was a $10,000 insurance policy on a $70,000 truck. Three victims, one policy—split between them. Before medical bills, before long-term care, before the true cost of what was taken.

Then came the legal process.

Depositions scheduled and canceled.
Work missed.
Years passing.

Four years.

Over time, two of the victims did what the system quietly counts on—they faded away. Not because they healed. Not because it was resolved. But because the process wears people down.

They stopped showing up.

I didn’t.

I stayed. I pushed forward. Not just for myself—but for all of us.

From the beginning, the expectation was clear:

DUI with great bodily injury.
Real consequences.
Real accountability.

But that’s not how it ended.

Against the victims’ wishes—and without me even being notified until two hours after it happened—there was an unscheduled sentencing.

The charge was reduced.

From DUI with great bodily injury…
to a single count of reckless driving with bodily injury.

Three victims.
One charge.

And in the end, it felt like accountability was reduced on paper, while the damage remained exactly the same in real life.

The case closed.

But nothing about this is over.

Why I’m Doing This

This isn’t about money.

If it were, I would have walked away years ago.

I stayed because I believed in something—accountability, truth, and the idea that what happened to us mattered.

And I learned something difficult:

Sometimes the outcome doesn’t match the harm.

But the hardest part of all of this wasn’t even the injuries… or the outcome.

It was what I never got to do.

I wanted to stand in that courtroom, face him, and say everything that needed to be said.

To tell him how his choices changed lives.
How the impact is permanent.
How it shows up every single day.

And then—

I wanted to forgive him.

Publicly. Personally. Completely.

Not for the system. Not for the outcome.
But for myself.

I wanted to look him in the eye and say:

“I forgive you.
For the choices you made.
For the damage that was done.
I forgive you.”

And I never got that opportunity.

That was taken too.

The woman in the blue SUV came from New York on business. She left with staples in her head and a completely different life than the one she arrived with.

The other rider never even received the surgery he needed.

And both of them, over time, stepped away from the process.

They don’t know I’m doing this.

All they know is that the system didn’t come through for them the way they hoped.

What they don’t know is this:

There is still kindness.
There are still people who care.
There is still something good that can come from something like this.

This is for them.

An unexpected act of compassion—for something they had to let go of a long time ago.

Because sometimes, no matter how hard you fight, the result doesn’t reflect what actually happened.

Sometimes the punishment doesn’t match the damage.

And sometimes, the only place left to find any sense of balance… is in people.

In community.

In choosing to show up for others when something else didn’t.

Nothing can give back what was taken.

But this can be something more than that.

A reminder that they weren’t forgotten.
A way to bring even a small sense of closure.
A way to show that what happened mattered.

If this had been anyone else—without the badge, without the recognition—there wouldn’t be a question about how it ended.

But here we are.

So this is a different kind of response.

Not built on punishment.
But on compassion.

If you’re reading this, you’re part of that.

And what you choose to do with that—whether it’s sharing this or contributing—means more than anything that came out of that courtroom.

STATEMENT OF HONOR, TRUST, AND INTEGRITY

Every dollar raised through this fundraiser will be handled with complete honesty, transparency, and respect for the three people whose lives were changed forever on the night of the crash. The entire amount — 100% of all funds received — will be divided equally between the three individuals who were injured.

This is not for personal gain. This is not for profit. This is an act of honor, justice, and integrity — the very things that were stripped from us throughout this process.

As a human being, I give my word that every contribution will go exactly where it is intended to go: to the victims who were denied justice, accountability, and recognition. I will provide full transparency, including receipts, documentation, and videos showing how the funds are distributed. Nothing will be hidden. Nothing will be withheld. Everything will be done openly, with the dignity and respect that the system failed to give them.

This fundraiser exists because justice was not served. It exists because the people who were hurt were left without answers, without closure, and without support. It exists because the system protected the person who caused the crash, while the victims were left to carry the weight.

I promise to honor those injured in this crime. I promise to give them the justice they were refused. I promise to ensure that the generosity, compassion, and kindness of this community reaches the people who deserve it most.

This is a gift of compassion for two people who gave up on the process long ago — not because they wanted to, but because the system pushed them to. They do not know about this fundraiser. They only know that justice failed them. My hope is to surprise them with something the system never gave: acknowledgment, support, and a reminder that there are still good people in this world.

This is for them.

For what they lost.

For what they endured.

For the justice they never received.

And for the forgiveness I never had the chance to give in court — the forgiveness I carried with me, the words I wanted to speak, the moment that was taken from me when the sentencing was held without my knowledge. I wanted to look the man who caused the crash in the eyes and say, “I forgive you.” Not because it erased anything, but because forgiveness was the only thing I still had control over. That opportunity was taken from me, but the intention remains.

This fundraiser is my way of giving back what the system stole: dignity, compassion, and the chance for healing.