Friday, April 07, 2000
Driver who wrecked festival gets 14 1/2 years
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Michael Cowperthwaite listens to testimony from his victims.
(Tony Jones photo)
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Michael Cowperthwaite says he was alone and depressed when he drove to Cincinnati's Oktoberfest last year in search of a little fun.
Once there, he stood by himself drinking a 20-ounce cup of beer. Then he drank another. And another.
And another.
Although he says he doesn't know what happened next, the people he met that day remember every moment.
Many of them wept Thursday as a judge sentenced Mr. Cowperthwaite to 141/2 years in prison for injuring them when he drove his car through the festival crowd Sept. 19.
Before the sentencing, a half-dozen of the nearly 30 victims told the judge how Mr. Cowperthwaite's reckless, drunken driving left them with physical and emotional scars.
“When I hit the hood of his car, I thought to myself, "You're going to die today,'” said Colleen Harden, who suffered a concussion. “I've never been so scared in my life. I'm still an emotional wreck.”
Ms. Harden and several other victims said the accident made them afraid to drive or even cross the street.
“I can't cross without obsessively turning my head to check over and over again,” said Jami Anderson, whose leg was broken. “I used to be very active, but there are things I can't ever do again.”
Mr. Cowperthwaite, 26, of Union Township, Clermont County, had faced up to 48 years in prison for charges ranging from felonious assault to failure to comply with a police order. He pleaded guilty in February.
“I am truly sorry,” Mr. Cowperthwaite said Thursday. “I had no intention of hurting anybody. I have no one to blame but myself.”
After driving to the festival, he said, he became depressed because he was there alone. He had been spending less time with friends and had recently split up with his girlfriend.
Authorities say he consumed 88 ounces of beer in about 20 minutes.
Mr. Cowperthwaite, whose blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit, said he does not remember starting his car or driving through the crowd.
A police officer said he tried to flag down Mr. Cowperthwaite. “It was like a Hollywood movie,” said Officer Brian Brazile. “All I could think about were all those unsuspecting people.”
He said Mr. Cowperthwaite drove over a barricade on Main Street near Sixth Street and began running people down. Some went airborne over his hood, and several suffered broken legs, torn ligaments and nerve damage.
Mr. Cowperthwaite's friends and family said the behavior was out of character for a man they know as “kind, gentle and loving.”
“It's unbelievable,” said his father, Jim. “I still can't believe it happened.”
He said his son seemed to have few troubles before the accident. He lived close to his family in Union Township, rode motorcycles with friends and volunteered for a charity that finds homes for dogs that otherwise would be destroyed.
Common Pleas Judge Richard Niehaus said Mr. Cowperthwaite must have a “Jekyll and Hyde” personality. In this case, the judge said, alcohol was the magic potion that transformed him.
But he said the alcohol is not an excuse for his behavior.
“The actions a person takes are based on their own personal decisions,” Judge Niehaus said.
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