Man films fatal crash instead of helping, later arrested

[charminglife]

This man filmed a fatal car crash instead of helping. Then, Ohio police arrested him.

By Sarah Larimer July 16 at 1:33 PM


When Paul Pelton saw the scene of a fatal car crash this week, he didn’t try to comfort the victims, who were both teenagers, and he didn’t help them, authorities say. Instead, according to police, Pelton started filming the scene on his cellphone.



Pelton, 41, is now facing a misdemeanor charge of vehicular trespassing. Police arrested him Wednesday, according to reports, and he has since posted bond.



“We searched to try to find anything to charge him with,” Lorain Police Detective Buddy Sivert told Reuters, noting that Pelton was charged for entering a crime scene, but not for filming what was unfolding there, nor for trying to peddle the footage to news organizations. “It is not a crime to stick a camera where a kid is dying or try to sell it.”



After a Honda sedan flew over railroad tracks and crashed into a house Monday, Pelton filmed the aftermath on his cellphone’s camera, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reports.



The crash happened in Lorain, Ohio, which is about 30 miles from Cleveland.



Others who were in the area tried to help get to the teens, but Pelton didn’t offer any assistance.



“He went right in after the crash, before the rescuers or police arrived,” Sivert said.



According to a police report cited by the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Pelton can be heard in the video referring to the boys trapped in the car as “idiots.”



“He opened a back door and leaned in to film the boys and then walked around to the front door as he continued recording,” the Media Group reported. “At no time did he try to help either of the boys, the report said.”



The driver and the passenger were both 17. One died at an Ohio hospital; the condition of the other victim wasn’t immediately known, according to the Media Group.



Pelton posted the video to Facebook, police allege, and later tried to sell it to multiple TV stations.



Denise White, who lives on the street where the accident occurred, told CBS affiliate WOIO that she was trying to help the victims and saw Pelton filming.



“To take that video and put it on Facebook, it just shows you have no principles. It’s disgusting,” she told the station. The deceased teenager’s “mom probably had to see that,” White said.



In a subsequent Facebook video unearthed by WOIO, Pelton said he was sorry.



“I want to offer a public apology to the families of the kids that got injured or deceased in the car accident,” he said, according to the station. “I never intended it to be a video that came across as a gore video. I wanted to put the video out there so other kids could see it and learn from the mistake of speeding and driving recklessly.”



Pelton claimed that he didn’t try to sell the video to news stations, but instead was seeking charitable donations in exchange for the footage.



But at least one outlet — Cleveland’s Fox affiliate, WJW — reported otherwise:



Police said he posted the video on Facebook and attempted to sell it to at least two news stations, including Fox 8 News, but we declined.



It’s unclear whether Pelton has an attorney.



“The Lorain Police Department would like to remind citizens that they are allowed and encouraged to help one another in emergencies if they can do so safely, and that rendering aid or comfort to a dying young man and his severely injured friend is a commendable and kindly act,” the department said in a news release. “Persons are not, however, allowed to trespass into a person’s vehicle criminally and without permission for the seemingly singular cause of filming a young man’s dying moments, for profit.”



This post has been updated.


www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/16/this-ohio-man-filmed-a-fatal-car-crash-instead-of-helping-then-police-arrested-him/

[charminglife]

It's sad that this police department has to remind people to help one another in emergency situations. What the hell is wrong with people?

[AJL]

Good!

[jln]

Sick. Two kids were dying and he couldn't bother to comfort them, just film for his own gain? I hope he suffers with a great deal of guilt from his stupidity.

[ttt]

He opened the door and went inside the car to film these kids dying??? Throw the book at him. It takes a sorry excuse for a human to do that.

[FloFTW]

Holy shit.

[cookiemdough]

I wish there were laws against being a disgusting human being. Wtf is wrong with people.

[katfco]

Can we just start arresting people for being awful human beings?

[jeaniebueller]

Fuck that guy.

[jillboston]

what a piece of shit.. reminds me of the disgusting papparrazzi taking photos of Princess Diane as she was dying.

[2doxies]

Fuck him. If I was one of these kids' parents, I don't even know what I would try to do to this guy.

[josieposy]

I just cannot fathom any situation where making a point is more important than helping an injured person. Where the hell is this man's humanity?

My heart breaks for these kids' families.

[Velar Fricative]

Yes, people need to understand the dangers of driving recklessly. No, this is not the way to do it. Fuck this guy.

You have to have zero conscience to open the fucking door of a car where teens are dying and not do a damn thing to help them.

[pixy0stix]

I would like someone to burn his house down, and then film his reaction as it burns.

[zoegirltx]

Are there some civil cases that can't be filed? Could they make an argument that the kids may have had lesser injuries or survived if he had helped them?

[ttt]

Jul 17, 2015 8:37:46 GMT -5 josieposy said:

I just cannot fathom any situation where making a point is more important than helping an injured person. Where the hell is this man's humanity?

My heart breaks for these kids' families.

Bullshit he was trying to make a point. He was hoping to sell the footage and make a quick buck.

[skwcm80]

He is a disgusting person. He was soliciting charitable donations for who exactly? The families of the kids he didn't help?

[penguingrrl]

Fuck him. What kind of vile human being do you have to be to see that kind of suffering and ignore it and film it instead of trying to help?

[mrsd2006]

What a disgusting human being. And then try to profit by selling the footage? I mean, get a charitable donation for the footage? SICK SICK SICK.

[sfy]

I can't believe he called these kids "idiots" as they lay there dying. Kids. What as ass.

The title made me think of the Seinfeld finale, but this is truly sick. He opened the door to film them dying? That's unbelievable.

[josieposy]

Jul 17, 2015 9:05:43 GMT -5 ttt said:

Jul 17, 2015 8:37:46 GMT -5 josieposy said:

I just cannot fathom any situation where making a point is more important than helping an injured person. Where the hell is this man's humanity?

My heart breaks for these kids' families.

Bullshit he was trying to make a point. He was hoping to sell the footage and make a quick buck.

Oh absolutely! His bullshit reasoning is what I was commenting on. No doubt in my mind it was financially motivated.

[Deleted]

Jul 17, 2015 8:47:10 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I would like someone to burn his house down, and then film his reaction as it burns.

Then try to sell it to teach other people a lesson about the consequences of being an asshole.

[lg28]

Jul 17, 2015 9:08:28 GMT -5 sfy said:

I can't believe he called these kids "idiots" as they lay there dying. Kids. What as ass.

The title made me think of the Seinfeld finale, but this is truly sick. He opened the door to film them dying? That's unbelievable.

Right? Even if they were doing something idiotic with the car, they're kids. You fucking help and comfort them.

[shanbrite2]

Fucking disgusting. Reminds me of the photojournalist who killed himself after taking the picture of the starving little girl, but I feel like that situations was different in important ways. Andplusalso, that guy clearly had a conscience about what happened en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter

[ECB]

Jul 17, 2015 9:17:56 GMT -5 puddleofgrace said:

I'm so fucking over people whipping out their goddamn phones any time anything happens. Put that shit away and fucking do something!

So much this!   This part of the cellphone culture really bothers me.   

[Cicero]

Jul 17, 2015 8:56:10 GMT -5 zoegirltx said:

Are there some civil cases that can't be filed? Could they make an argument that the kids may have had lesser injuries or survived if he had helped them?

No. Unless one of a very few exceptions are present (like the person in need of help being a minor you are responsible for) there is no duty to render aid so you can't be successfully sued for failure to do so.

[jillboston]

Jul 17, 2015 9:48:07 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Jul 17, 2015 8:56:10 GMT -5 zoegirltx said:

Are there some civil cases that can't be filed? Could they make an argument that the kids may have had lesser injuries or survived if he had helped them?

No. Unless one of a very few exceptions are present (like the person in need of help being a minor you are responsible for) there is no duty to render aid so you can't be successfully sued for failure to do so.

yes. good Samaritan rule. (or non-requirement thereof) one of those random things that stuck since law school

[Velar Fricative]

Jul 17, 2015 9:56:47 GMT -5 jillboston said:

Jul 17, 2015 9:48:07 GMT -5 Cicero said:

No. Unless one of a very few exceptions are present (like the person in need of help being a minor you are responsible for) there is no duty to render aid so you can't be successfully sued for failure to do so.

yes. good Samaritan rule. (or non-requirement thereof) one of those random things that stuck since law school

Ah, I always that the GS rule covered people who attempted to help but were unsuccessful. Maybe I was mixing things up (or perhaps it covers both situations?).

[sangria]

No fucking normal person would be so fucking heartless. Fuck this piece of shit

[jillboston]

Jul 17, 2015 9:59:00 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Jul 17, 2015 9:56:47 GMT -5 jillboston said:

yes. good Samaritan rule. (or non-requirement thereof) one of those random things that stuck since law school

Ah, I always that the GS rule covered people who attempted to help but were unsuccessful. Maybe I was mixing things up (or perhaps it covers both situations?).

I think you are right.