The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A grand jury charged a Kentucky ambulance driver with murder and driving under the influence in a crash that killed a patient being taken to the hospital last year.
Louisville ambulance driver Tammy Renee Brewer was indicted Thursday.
Vickey Whobrey was being taken to the hospital for a persistent nose bleed when the ambulance crashed in the Louisville suburb of Shively in April 2008. A different ambulance took the 57-year-old to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Shively police say Brewer, 36, told them she was turning off the ambulance’s emergency lights when she looked up and saw a pedestrian, then swerved and hit a utility pole.
Prosecutor Thomas. A. Van De Rostyne did not know if Brewer had an attorney and no phone number was listed.
Brewer was also charged with assault, driving under the influence, wanton endangerment and criminal mischief.
Whobrey’s estate sued Brewer and the city of Louisville, alleging negligence. A police report indicated Brewer was given a blood test at a hospital where she was treated after the crash, but it did not include the results.
A coroner’s report says Whobrey died from injuries in the crash.
The city of Louisville is asking to be dismissed from the suit, citing sovereign immunity.
Kerri Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Louisville mayor’s office, said Brewer was suspended without pay Thursday after the indictment. She is to be arraigned Monday.