A Halethorpe man was convicted of vehicular homicide for killing a tow truck driver in a 2017 drugged driving accident in Linhicum, the State's Attorney for Anne Arundel County announced Thursday.
Brian Wayne Weatherly, 32, was found guilty of vehicular homicide while under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance by Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Ronald A. Silkworth. At the time of the accident, Weatherly had consumed cocaine, methadone, and alprazolam, a mild tranquilizer more commonly known as Xanax.
Police said on May 24, 2017, tow truck driver Thomas Flayhart was stopped on the side of northbound Belle Grove Road near Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, helping a disabled vehicle. Flayhart was securing the vehicle to his tow truck when Weatherley, also traveling north on Belle Grove Road, failed to slow down and struck Flayhart.
Police responded to the crash and found Flayhart suffering from life threatening injuries. He was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma where he later died.
Weatherley will be sentenced Dec. 14.
"We rarely consider the danger our tow truck drivers put themselves in when they respond to our roadside emergencies," Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Wes Adams said in a statement. "The victim was simply trying to do his job when Mr. Weatherley's reckless decision to drive under the influence cost him his life."
