Driver in fatal accident sent to prison

A tragic accident more than a year ago involving alcohol and driving continues to devastate two families, with one man dead and another now behind bars.

Kyle Serocki, 25, was sentenced Monday to the Nebraska Department of Corrections by District Court Judge David Urbom, in the Oct. 7, 2006, motor vehicle death of Nicholas Mead, 24, of Cambridge.

Serocki, originally of Olathe, Kan., was sentenced to not less than 24 months but not more than 60 months to the Nebraska Department of Corrections. Judge Urbom said Serocki was not a good candidate for the probation that his attorney, Richard Calkins of Alma, asked for, as it would depreciate the seriousness of the crime and promote disrespect for the law.

"Your actions and choices have caused a man's death," Urbom said. "This will affect people for decades to come."

Serocki pleaded no contest in a plea agreement to two Class IIIA felony charges of motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of an injury or fatal accident. The charges were amended from the original manslaughter charge, a Class III felony. The sentence, for both charges, will run concurrent.

Mead was changing or checking a tire on U.S. Highway 6 and 34 about 2:15 a.m., Oct. 7, when he was allegedly struck by Serocki.

The sentencing was a bittersweet consolation to Mead's mother, Cindy Anderson.

"I'm glad he got jail time," she said after court, "but it doesn't take the pain away."

She added that Serocki's attitude never showed any remorse.

"He got to celebrate so many things my son will never get to: Thanksgiving, other holidays, getting married," she said, in tears. Serocki was married this summer, she said, adding that her son was was also planning to be married.

Anderson said after Serocki crossed over the highway and struck her son, he abandoned his pickup near the Harry Strunk Memorial rest area where passing motorists stopped and picked him up. Serocki told them he had hit a deer and they drove him to a McCook motel.

Becoming suspicious of the story, they later contacted law enforcement and told them of their concerns.

Calkins asked for probation based on his client's lack of criminal record, his remorse over the accident and witness statements that varied over the amount of alcohol Serocki had consumed that night.

He pointed to a statement in the pre sentencing investigation from the Holbrook bartender who served Serocki that night, who said that he did not appear intoxicated and another statement from a motel clerk in McCook who said that he did not appear out of the ordinary, "just tired and ready to go to bed."

Calkins disputed the validity of the alcohol test results done at Community Hospital, in light of varying statements from witnesses, but added that he was not trying to minimize the magnitude of the accident or say that alcohol wasn't a contributing factor.

Serocki's blood alcohol level was tested at more than twice the legal limit, at .18, according to test results from Community Hospital. The legal limit is .08

Calkins read a portion of a letter sent to him by his client, where Serocki expressed his remorse.

"'I never would have imagined what could have happened that night,'" Calkins read. "I'll never be able to get over the loss ... I will always have this helpless feeling that I just can't fix it."

Calkins said Serocki recognizes the seriousness of his actions and takes full responsibility.

"He will live with this for the rest of his life," he said.

He disagreed with the conclusion of the pre sentencing investigation that probation would minimize the seriousness of the offense. Instead, conditions within probation could be used as a tool of rehabilitation and as a way to serve justice.

Serocki has no prior record, not even a traffic violation, he noted.

Serocki declined to make a statement before sentencing.

Judge Urbom said Serocki was a "young man most fathers would be proud to say you were their son," who graduated from college, recently married this summer and with no prior offenses.

Yet, Urbom continued, he told police officers the night of the accident that he had two beers, told another officer he had four drinks, and the toxicology test showed six or seven beers. Although the bartender said in the pre sentencing investigation that Serocki didn't appear drunk, the bartender also said that Serocki had purchased three rounds of drinks.

"We don't know how much you drank that night, why you crossed that highway," Urbom said. "We'll probably never know."

Serocki's legs buckled slightly at this point and his lawyer steadied him. Members of Serocki's family sobbed quietly as he was relinquished into the custody of the Red Willow County Sheriff.

Anderson said she believed the recent alleged drunk-driving fatality in Arapahoe may have had something to do with Serocki's sentencing.

"After what happened there, I think the judges are coming down harder on drunk drivers," she said.