Alleged Hit & Run DUI Driver that Killed Likely 'Bonded Out' with about $1000

 TIMOTHY CRAIG MEDLEY

ARRESTED AND PRESUMED INNOCENT FOR HITTING AND KILLING A MAN WHILE IMPAIRED, THEN FLEEING THE SCENE.  

A Mecklenburg County Magistrate assigned bond of only $2500 UNsecured (meaning a signature promise he would pay that much if he doesn't show up for court to face charges) and $5000 each secured bond for felony charges of death by vehicle and hit & run causing death.  That secured bond of $5000 usually means payment of only 10-15% of the amount, or about $500 each, to secure release from jail after being found with his car smashed in and apparently impaired and on a street near the man who was killed.  

Just what kind of bond references are Magistrates using?  Are there any guidelines?

If you're wondering, he 'bonded out' three hours after his arrest.  The sun wasn't even up yet.  One wonders if three hours was long enough for a person to sober up, if in fact they are impaired.  

Citynewswatch sends a special thank you to the gentleman who was paying attention to the world and people around him, noticed the person walking at the side of the road as he left for the store, noticed a banged up car on a side street on his way home, and searched for the walker.  While it's sad that he found the shoe and located the crime victim, it would be more sad if that person had been left alone in the cold night and a nobody went to help him, report the crime, or tell his family and friends what happened.  Peace to him and those that helped.

Mecklenburg Co. Sheriff:
Ref: Charge/Court: ORD/Bond Type/County Case/CSL Disp
001 540500 / 1150A REL / 2500 UNS / 17CR244016 B
Date: 11/24/2017 09:00 AM Description: DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED
002 540600 / 1150A REL / 5000 SEC / 17CR244017 B
Date: 11/24/2017 09:00 AM Description: DEATH BY VEHICLE - FELONY
003 470800 / 1150A REL / 5000 SEC / 17CR244018 B
Date: 11/24/2017 09:00 AM Description: FEL HIT/RUN SER INJ/DEATH
SENTENCES

Arrest #:
01738474 PID:
0000188763 JID:
17-095501 DOB:
11/24/1972
Race/Sex:
CAU/M
Height:
508"
Address:
CHARLOTTE NC 28278
Alias:
Status:
STATE INMATE
Housing:
Not Active
By:
Commited:
11/23/2017 2:37 AM
Released:
11/23/2017 5:42 AM

see this entire story BY JOE MARUSAK from The Charlotte Observer here: 

Driver saw shoe on dark Charlotte road. What he did next led to an arrest.
BY JOE MARUSAK
jmarusak@charlotteobserver.com
NOVEMBER 23, 2017 04:14 PM

A driver saw a shoe on a dark Charlotte road late Wednesday. What he did next made all the difference in helping police find a hit-and-run suspect.

The driver on Shopton Road West in southwest Charlotte had earlier been heading to a store when he saw a man walking on the side of the road, according to police.

The driver, whom police have not identified, spotted the shoe when he was returning from the store. On nearby Pilcher Drive, he also saw a parked 2006 Kia Sorento with lots of damage, police said.

He realized the man he’d seen earlier might have been hit by the car, so he immediately returned to the scene and found the victim lying in grass off the right side of the road.

Then the driver called 911.

The pedestrian, 49-year-old Michael James Denny, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Thanks to the driver who found Denny and called 911, police arrested 44-year-old Timothy Craig Medley of Charlotte and charged him with driving while impaired, felony death by vehicle and felony hit and run. Medley is free on $12,500 bail.

Police said Medley was driving north on Shopton Road West from South Tryon Street when Denny was hit while walking in the 16200 block. That stretch of Shopton Road West is not lit with overhead street lights and has no sidewalks on either side, according to police.

Police said they arrested Medley after they interviewed him and found him to be impaired.

“The witness in this case was instrumental to the quick apprehension of the suspect,” police said in a statement early Thursday. “Without his willingness to become involved, it is doubtful that the victim would have been located tonight and the suspect may have escaped justice.”

From MeckSheriff.com :
https://mecksheriffweb.mecklenburgcountync.gov   Inmate search

CHARGES

Ref: Charge/Court: ORD/Bond Type/County Case/CSL Disp
001 540500 / 1150A REL / 2500 UNS / 17CR244016 B
Date: 11/24/2017 09:00 AM Description: DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED
002 540600 / 1150A REL / 5000 SEC / 17CR244017 B
Date: 11/24/2017 09:00 AM Description: DEATH BY VEHICLE - FELONY
003 470800 / 1150A REL / 5000 SEC / 17CR244018 B
Date: 11/24/2017 09:00 AM Description: FEL HIT/RUN SER INJ/DEATH
SENTENCES

Ref: Case: CSL CNS Begin YY Min MM DD YY MAX MM DD TP Earn Cred END
001 17CR244016
002 17CR244017
003 17CR244018

City of Charlotte & Crystal Eschert: Not a "Social Media Policy" Problem

This week, in Charlotte's Federal Courthouse, a jury got it right--thanks to the fortitude of former City of Charlotte Fire Inspector Crystal Eschert and her attorney, Meg Maloney (Margaret Behringer Maloney--founding member of Maloney Law & Associates, PLLC  ).  They won a $1.5 Million lawsuit after Ms. Eschert was unjustly fired in retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions in a Fire building under renovation.

The City of Charlotte tried without success to claim it fired Eschert because she made a private Facebook post which used the word "thug" to describe someone doing criminal conduct--while specifically saying race must not be a factor in judging a person's conduct.  The City turned that statement into some kind of potential racially-charged-riot-inducing inflammatory statement which was allegedly inflaming the passions and sensitivities of all of Charlotte and the surrounding areas (or something like that) in such a way that would also make it impossible for this (celebrity?) fire inspector to check the aftermath of fires throughout our land because of the notoriety of this single, anti-racism, privately-posted, Facebook post which one anonymous person wrote to Fire Chief John Hannon and Police Chief Rodney Monroe to complain about....

"LindaHavery@yahoo.com" sent an email complaint to the chiefs, but nobody can locate any person attached to that email address.  It may be that the City hasn't tried very hard to locate the source of the email.  One wonders if they asked Fire Chief John Hannon if he sent it.  Of course, when the City Manager asked John Hannon if he had previously leaked an employee record, he lied about it.  Then it was discovered and he admitted it.  

Before the now-infamous Facebook posting and "LindaHavery@yahoo.com" email's frantic complaints about it, Eschert had reported safety concerns at the fire station office building, from possible black mold and water leaking to exposed electrical wires and a long list of other dangers--at the building for people who are supposed to inspect for and correct those things at all of our other buildings.  

But the Chief in charge of that building and the safety of all of its employees was exposed.  And probably angry.  That's what the jury found.  He fired Crystal Eschert not because of a social media policy violation, but because of RETALIATION. 

This decision exposes the culture of severe retaliation in the City of Charlotte that needs to be scrubbed and destroyed.  

Congratulations to Ms. Eschert and Ms. Maloney, as well as U.S. District Frank Whitney who didn't fall for the City's song and dance on dismissal claims and therefore let the case move forward.  Good for the jury, who saw through a ridiculous cover story and did the right thing.  

There are some final arguments to make before an Order is entered, but we can hope it stands as the jury intended.