The Associated Press
Thursday, July 14, 2005; 5:30 PM
TAMPA, Fla. – Former NFL player Darion Conner was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday for killing a bicyclist while he was driving drunk.
A jury found Conner guilty last week of DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide.
Witnesses testified they saw the 37-year-old Connor driving his Toyota Land Cruiser erratically before slamming into Jonathan Michael Conklin around 1:50 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2004. The collision sent Conklin, 32, flying about 200 feet through the air, prosecutors said. He died at the scene.
Investigators who arrived a few minutes later said they found Conner passed out behind the wheel with alcohol on his breath. His blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.27, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08.
Conner spent eight seasons as a linebacker and defensive lineman in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles. The Jackson State University product spent the last six years of his career playing for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
Witnesses testified they saw the 37-year-old Connor driving his Toyota Land Cruiser erratically before slamming into Jonathan Michael Conklin around 1:50 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2004.
What was he doing on a bike at 1:50am??
Also, the media’s version of a cyclist and ours is different. To them any one on a bike they call a cyclist, when we commonly refer to cyclists we usually are thinking of roadies or triathletes. I wouldn’t call the guy at my office who had to ride a bike to work for 6 months because he lost his drivers license a cyclist. But had he been hit by a car, the media would have called him a cyclist.
This is in no way intended to take away from the loss of life and another ruined.
i bike commute everywhere. i’m sure i’ve been riding home from parties that late, or even heading to work at 5AM on my bike. I don’t think the time of day has to make the rider suspect.
I worked in DC for a summer during college. I rode my bike from the MD border to work every afternoon at 4pm and rode home from Georgetown at 1PM up Connecticut Avenue.
For some people bikes are the only way to get around.
i bike commute everywhere. i’m sure i’ve been riding home from parties that late, or even heading to work at 5AM on my bike. I don’t think the time of day has to make the rider suspect.
By no means was I implying that the rider was suspect. I was just pointing out that your odds of being hit by a driver (drunk or not) are SO much higher late at night and that the rider was putting himself at greater risk. It is an outrage whenever a car hits a bike - drunk or not, daylight or not.
I can’t believe someone actually posted a question like this. Who cares what someone was doing on a bike at whatever time they were on a bike. Motorist driving drunk hits a cyclist in the early hours of morning and you don’t ask what someone was doing driving drunk, you ask why they were on a bike. Unbelieveable.
I can’t believe someone actually posted a question like this. Who cares what someone was doing on a bike at whatever time they were on a bike. Motorist driving drunk hits a cyclist in the early hours of morning and you don’t ask what someone was doing driving drunk, you ask why they were on a bike. Unbelieveable.
Give me a break. I ONLY asked the question to point out what an odd and unsafe hour it was to be riding a bike (and upon first reading I read “cyclist” to mean a roadie or triathlete and that seemed even more odd). Do you really have to ask the question why someone was driving drunk? I think that answer is obivious.
What was he doing on a bike at 1:50am??
___________________________________________________________________________________________ He was riding it. I wasn’t aware of a curfew for riding a bike.
Also, the media’s version of a cyclist and ours is different. To them any one on a bike they call a cyclist, when we commonly refer to cyclists we usually are thinking of roadies or triathletes. I wouldn’t call the guy at my office who had to ride a bike to work for 6 months because he lost his drivers license a cyclist. But had he been hit by a car, the media would have called him a cyclist. This is in no way intended to take away from the loss of life and another ruined.
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