Man pleads guilty after seriously injuring his two children in drunken crash

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A man seriously injured his two children after drunkenly crashing into a tree last year in Norfolk.

Gary Sanders II, 37, recently pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse resulting in serious injury and one count of driving while intoxicated in the case, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office announced of Norfolk.

The accident happened just after midnight on November 24, 2023, on Cromwell Road in the Coleman Place area of ​​the city. Sanders was heading north when he collided head-on with a tree in the central reservation.

Prosecutors say Sanders was driving so fast that the impact pushed the car’s engine block toward the front seat area. Sanders’ two children were in the back seat, but were seriously injured.

The elder had a fractured femur and lost teeth, and the younger, who was in a car seat, stopped breathing at one point, prosecutors said. This child had a fractured spine, bruised lungs and a broken forearm.

Police said Sanders had a broken knee and a blood alcohol level between 0.16 and 0.18, at least twice the legal limit for driving. Officers also found several open beer cans inside the car and an open bottle of alcohol in a backpack in the front seat.

Sanders is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17, 2025.

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