Trucking Company Owner Gets Probation In Death Of Motorist

The owner of a North Carolina-based trucking company has been given a suspended jail sentence and probation in McDowell County Superior Court this month.

Patrick Todd Burleson, 44, owner of Todd Burleson Trucking, was originally charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle after one of his trucks was involved in the death of a South Carolina man.

According to authorities, Douglas Mahan, 62, was killed driving down U.S. 221 in McDowell County after a large rock fell from a truck owned by Todd Burleson Trucking and crashed into his windshield.

In an August court date, Burleson’s charges were reduced to aiding and abetting reckless driving. The judge ordered a 45-day suspended jail sentence and 12 months of unsupervised probation.

The driver of the truck, 48-year-old Randy Lee Arnett of Newland, NC, plead guilty to reckless driving to endanger and was handed a 30-day suspended sentence and a year of unsupervised probation.

Sources
 McDowell News
WECT-6