Current, former UK students protest downtown for friends
September 9, 2009 by Katie Perkowski · Leave a Comment
Seven protestors met outside the Lexington Police Department Wednesday evening to send a message in honor of their friends, UK sophomore Sierra T. Emrich, 19, and Lexington resident Alfred B. Baker, 21, who were struck and injured by a tow truck early Monday.
The reason for the protest was although their friends were struck by a tow truck driver, the driver is not being held accountable because he was ‘distracted,’ said Lydia Courtright, a friend of Emrich and a sociology senior.
“Just because she’s a young college student nothing’s being done about it,†Courtright said.
Dave Cooper, a Lexington resident and environmental activist, organized the event.
Cooper said he organized the event because he was upset when he saw that the driver had gone through a bike lane and other lanes and struck the two Lexington residents.
Emrich suffered a broken arm from the accident, and as of Wednesday afternoon, Baker was still in the hospital, Courtright said.
Nathan LeClaire, an economics junior, said Baker took the majority of the hit.
Jonathan Hampton, a UK law student, and Christina Buckner, an anthropology graduate student, protest reckless tow truck driving on Wednesday evening in front of the Lexington Police Station. Photo by Scott Hannigan | Staff
LeClaire said he had heard from Emrich that Baker was in poor condition but woke up for the first time on Wednesday.
“It seems like he’s stable but is in very poor condition,†LeClaire said.
Cooper said Kentucky does not do a good job in enforcing traffic laws.
According to the Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts report, about one in every 5.700 Kentucky residents died in a fatal car crash on a public road in 2007, as cited in an article on the Franklin Gray & White Web site.
“It should be alarming to people in Kentucky how many people are killed in these traffic accidents,†Cooper said.
Cooper said he called the Lexington Police Tuesday and asked why no charges were filed against the tow truck driver and got no response as of Wednesday evening.
The driver, Louis D. Lunsford, could not be reached for comment.
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