Driver Who Tried to Flee After Slamming Into House and Killing Resident Sentenced Yesterday
Neighbors helping at the scene of the crash in June of 2019. [Photo by Rachael Trump]
On February 25th, 2020, Humboldt County Judge Lawrence Killoran sentenced Ryder Dale Stapp to state prison for 11 years for the crimes of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Penal Code section 191.5(a)) and hit and run resulting in death or serious injury to another person (Vehicle Code section 20001(b)(2)), for the killing of Bob Beland on June 28, 2019. Judge Killoran sentenced Stapp to the aggravated term of 10 years for gross vehicular manslaughter and an additional year for the hit and run resulting in death. Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is a strike under California law: the prison sentence for any future serious or violent felony committed by Stapp would be doubled.
Six members of Mr. Beland’s family and two of his friends addressed the court.
Stapp was taken into custody following his sentencing.
California Highway Patrol Officer Tierney Burk investigated the case. Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm prosecuted the case with the assistance of District Attorney Investigator Braden Brawner.
Earlier Chapters:
- One Person With Major Injuries After Pickup Crashes Into Home on Humboldt Hill
- One Dead After Truck Crashed Into Home Last Night
- Driver Tried to Flee Friday’s Fatal Crash Into Home on Foot But Citizens Captured and Held Him
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🕯You people need to go back to life school. My condolences and prayers to the victims victim’s family.
The Timms are putting in serious work for the county prosecuting these cases, I see thier names all the time in these articles, good for them,keep up the good work.
I read the statement about how this man’s behavior took away the life of one,the health, home and livelihood of the deceased’s family in one fell swoop. They have my deepest sympathy. The driver has none- his “remorse” is too late and too likely only for having been caught.
Please don’t drink the Devil’s piss and drive.
DUI is such a thoughtless stupid passively aggressive act and way too common. DUI is too easy.
One can get a pre-rolled joint at a dispensary for $10 and yesterday I was in Costco and 1500 ml bottles of Jose Gold tequila sold for $13.99.
Thanks for the headline, Kym, not making it sound like it was the truck that committed the crime.
This was a crime deserving a life sentence. However, since our local DA office and judges either don’t prosecute at all or are way too light, it doesn’t surprise me at all. An even worse outcome was the Kitchen case. She killed 2, fled the scene, hid the murder weapon and tried to coerce her own son into hiding her drugs. Her case should have been Capital Punishment.
California …. only in California..
Not only in California
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Couch
Attention Queen, you must like California because you’re posting drama here.
You should really travel more.
The DA does not create the penal codes The judge decides within the code parameters what the punishment will be. The penal code is a book of guidelines to the punishment of crimes that are state approved.
This sentence is almost twice as long as that given to marci kitchen. The absence of consistency in criminal sentences is troublesome. This young man fessed up. Marci Kitchen obfuscated the proceedings. This long a sentence does society no good. Cold blooded criminals get less punishment in many cases. American justice needs a serious overhaul.
He didn’t “fess” up. He tried to run away, was caught and held by neighbors, which made his blood available for testing. And there were no questioning what he did.
Kitchen ran away and by the time she was caught, testing was not an option. She also offered an alternative explanation that she thought she hit a deer. And the sentence for Kitchen was 8 years, not half as much as 11 years this man received. And she pled guilty too in the end.
I admit that the fact that Kitchen killed her own child adds to the ugliness. But that does not mean that this man does not deserve the sentence he received based. Not one bit.
He was so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing,indeed the evidence indicates he had virtually passed out at the wheel. But that’s all beside the point. He didn’t deny steadfastly like marci kitchen. He should not have received a different sentence. Arguably it’s because he is a man, not a woman. In any event, sending him to a prison system with truly evil inmates is not an appropriate punishment. He should be incarcerated, yes, but not in a manner making no distinction from intentional violence. Unfortunately, our prison system provides inadequately for that.
I thought that is what you were arguing. That Kitchen got off lightly because of being a woman. But I did not want to fall into the “dog whistle” thinking. Now that it is clear, all I can say is that somehow, even if not just paranoid thinking, it is more important that this man, who had previous other arrests, needed a wake up call regarding responsibility AND the public needed protection from a person seemingly unable to learn from prior court action. It is not all about him nor people who have done the same thing and think it’s ok. No one gets to say “sorry” and everything resets.
It was his second offense. He was coddled. It is ironic that the same “law and order” crowd that so desperately want to scapegoat poor people are as equally and obviously desperate to exonerate the well-connected “old families”.
Stapp is a terrible human being. We can only hope this sad specimen of human DNA will develop the moral rectitude to someday attone for his crimes, since the Humboldt County “just us” system failed the victim and his family.
You sound like a relative of Stapp.
Stapp’s old money and stolen land has got him an early release. This county is dirtier than 20 Greek sewers.