Guy Who Rear-Ended Amish Wagon and Killed Its Driver Gets 8 Days in Jail

By Nicholas Phillips Tue., Dec. 28 2010 at 9:27 AM

Categories: Crime, Follow That Story, Missourah

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Two worlds colliding...

Jeffrey Fleming of Staunton, Illinois may or or may not have been texting when he slammed into the back of an Amish horse-and-buggy and killed its driver, 29-year-old Eli Borntrager, last January up near Moberly.

But one thing's for sure: he's gonna do jail time. Eight days of "shock time," that is.

According to the Springfield News-Leader, Fleming pleaded guilty yesterday to careless and imprudent driving. He was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter.
His sentence, the NL reports, is this:

eight days of shock time in jail, a one-year suspended jail sentence, two years' probation and 40 hours of community service.

Cell phone records show he sent a text to his wife a couple minutes before the crash was called in, but Fleming denies messing with his phone at the time of impact.

Question: Do you think the Amish should be allowed to drive their horse-and-buggies on our state highways? Daily RFT's Chad Garrison has argued that they should get their buggies "off the @#&*ing road," while managing editor Sarah Fenske argues for tolerance.

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