OCEAN CITY, Md. — A witness reported his vehicle crossing the center line repeatedly along Coastal Highway in Ocean City early Friday morning, and when he spotted the police lights behind him, Todd Pivec took off, striking a car in the back before hitting a telephone pole.
That car he struck, a Toyota Corolla, burst into flames, killing a 51-year-old man in the process.
RELATED: Drunk driver with checkered driving history charged in deadly Ocean City crash
Reached by telephone while on vacation in Ocean City, Maryland's director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Lisa Spicknall, says she's outraged.
"MADD has learned that this is not this defendant's first offense. It is actually his eighth drunk driving offense,” said Spicknall, “We're horrified to hear that this person has been given so many chances and is still continuing to drive drunk."
In August of last year, police responded to a sharp curve along Falls Road in Cockeysville where someone had lost control of a BMW, crashing it into a guardrail and leaving the scene.
After an Uber driver showed up and told police a man named "Todd" had called for a ride, they traced the wrecked car back to Pivec Mechanical LLC and soon determined Todd Pivec had been driving, even though his driver’s license had been suspended and carried a requirement for an ignition interlock device, which was not present.
While no drinking-related charges came out of that incident, it adds to the picture of a man who has shown little control when it comes to drinking or driving leading up to the fatal accident.
"This crash is a 100 percent preventable crime,” said Spicknall, “These crashes have to stop. There needs to be harsher repercussions for these issues and injuries."
At the time of last week's crash in Ocean City, Pivec's license was still suspended.
Officers took the suspect to a hospital for a mandatory blood draw to measure it for alcohol content.
On seven prior occasions, court records suggest he has refused to provide a breath sample during DUI related cases.
