Driver Given Community Service on Prior Charge

Investigation Continues In Crash That Killed 8

The driver of a car that plowed into a crowd at an illegal street race last month in Prince George's County, killing eight spectators, will perform 32 hours of community service to resolve an earlier charge of driving with a suspended license, prosecutors and his attorney said yesterday.

Darren Jamar Bullock, 20, had a "reasonable and honest belief that his license was not suspended" when he was pulled over in May in Waldorf, his attorney, John M. McKenna, said in traffic court in Charles County. Prosecutors put the case on an inactive docket, from which cases are often ultimately dismissed.

Relatives of one of those killed when Bullock's Crown Victoria slammed into the crowd on Indian Head Highway on Feb. 16 expressed dismay at what they viewed as the leniency of the punishment. Police are still investigating the crash and have not charged Bullock.

"We thought he was going to get locked up today," said John Courtney of Leonardtown, whose brother Mark Courtney was killed in the crash. "But he's walking out of here."

Outside court, McKenna showed reporters a $125 check that Bullock's mother wrote, about a week before he was pulled over, to request a hearing challenging his suspension, which McKenna said was for accumulated points. Because that payment was sent in, even though it was late, Bullock thought his license was valid, McKenna said.

According to Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration records, Bullock's license was suspended at the time of the crash. McKenna would not comment on the status of Bullock's license at the time of the crash but said it is no longer suspended.

Although a relative has said Bullock had one passenger, an older brother, in his car the night of the crash, McKenna said that, in fact, he had three passengers. McKenna declined to identify the passengers.

Bullock declined to comment after the hearing yesterday.

"He's devastated," McKenna said. "This is a dangerous time for him. There are people in the courtroom who quite wrongly want to blame him."

McKenna said Bullock is "not to blame in a legal sense" for the deaths. After the accident, McKenna said, Bullock stayed at the scene and tried to save people while others fled. McKenna said a preliminary breath test and another field test indicated that Bullock was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol that night.

John Courtney and two brothers attended the brief hearing and followed Bullock out of the courtroom. Joseph Courtney wept as he told reporters about how empty Easter had felt without his brother's presence.

"My brother can't see his kids or nothing," Courtney said. "Mark, he's lying in a casket, dead."

The crash was one of the deadliest accidents in the Washington region in 25 years, and it shed a harsh light on the underground world of illegal street racing. The 3 a.m. race, near Pine Drive in Accokeek, attracted spectators of all ages and even a few families.

Prince George's police have not completed their investigation, and it could take months to re-create the crash scene and shift through all of the witness statements, said Officer Henry Tippett, a department spokesman.

"When you have this many fatalities, it takes a long time," he said.