Beltway Trucker Piled Up Citations

Villalta, 33, of the 5800 block of Eastpine Drive in the Riverdale area was pronounced dead at the scene. The drivers of the Honda and the Acura were injured.

Karp, an attorney for Villalta's family, filed a $20 million lawsuit Thursday against Scofield and B.K. Trucking's president, Brian Kargman. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that Kargman, B.K. Trucking and Dutch Mill Produce, another company associated with Kargman, were negligent in allowing Scofield to drive for the company.

Several messages left for Kargman at his office and residences were not returned. During the interview at B.K. Trucking last month, Smith said Kargman did not wish to comment. Thomas V. McCarron, an attorney for B.K. Trucking, declined to comment in detail last week, citing the ongoing litigation. "Not all the facts of this case have been made public, and of what exactly occurred," McCarron said.

A Washington Post review of records, as well as documents compiled by Caroline County prosecutors in connection with a 2005 traffic case, reveals an extensive history of violations by Scofield.

In Delaware, where Scofield had his commercial driver's license, court records show the license was suspended seven times between October 1988 and January 1999. Each time, his license was restored.

According to Delaware State Police, Scofield was cited for inattentive driving after he rear-ended a car on a state highway near Georgetown, Del., on April 4, 2006. Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh, a state police spokesman, said Scofield was driving a box truck registered to Brian Kargman Trucking, one of several companies Kargman is associated with, when he hit the car, which was stopped at a light. No one was injured, but the car was damaged, Whitmarsh said.

Three months later, Delaware State Police cited Scofield for a safety violation.

Records indicate that Scofield has at least 56 entries in his driving history in Delaware for various violations, including nonpayment of court fines. His license was suspended there and in Virginia, Maryland State Police said. Reciprocity laws between states generally prohibit a driver with a suspended license in one state from driving in another.

In a phone interview Thursday, Smith said a family member of Scofield's told B.K. that Scofield replaced a lost driver's license after his wallet went missing last year. A relative of Scofield's, meanwhile, generated traffic violations when he used Scofield's original license, Smith said.

In Maryland, Scofield was disqualified as a commercial driver Dec. 7, 2004. Court records do not indicate why but show that his license was restored Feb. 4, 2005.

Court records in Maryland show that in July 2005, Scofield pleaded guilty in Caroline County to reckless driving, displaying a registration plate for another vehicle and driving without current tags. He was fined $455.

Scofield was convicted in Rhode Island in April 1997 of exceeding the number of hours drivers are allowed on duty and for the unsafe condition of his vehicle, according to court records and a Rhode Island traffic court clerk. Scofield paid a $197 fine in September 1999.