Mike Edmonson, superintendent of Louisiana State Police, the deputies drove up to find the suspect standing over the trooper with a gun pointed at him. Sheriff Mike Cazes said two of his deputies were involved in the shooting. He said one deputy jumped out of the car and fired at the suspect, while the driver put the car in park and actually shot at the suspect through the windshield of his own squad car.
Cazes said he spoke with the deputies and they told him they just reacted to the situation. Trooper Biddy's wife, Nicole, remembers getting a knock at the door from authorities reporting her husband had been shot in the head. Belniak, who was 20 years old at the time, pulled the trigger. Trooper Biddy recovered from his injuries but the emotional scars are still fresh.
He's had breaks before. He had it on his mind to kill a cop and he came here with that intention. So 50 years, the max, is what he should have gotten," Clayton said.
In court, Belniak apologized to the Biddy's, law enforcement and the community. The judge granted his father, Robert Belniak, a few moments with his son before taking him to prison.
He was happy that he had a second chance," Robert Belniak said. The Biddys said they are pleased with the judge's decision. Nicole believes it's enough time for Belinak to learn his lesson. It's easy to hate but it's really hard to love," Biddy said.
She said it's a concept she's come to appreciate and one she says she recalls every time she tells her husband goodbye. Copyright WAFB. All rights reserved. Authorities said Belniak had Xanax, alcohol and cocaine metabolites in his system at the time of the crash. A girl he was with the night with before the accident said in a deposition that she and Belniak spent Christmas Eve drinking and snorting cocaine. Belniak claims McWilliams abruptly swerved from the left-turn lane into the left through lane, giving him no chance to miss hitting the Tahoe.
Tuomey also recently filed a lawsuit against the Florida Highway Patrol. She claims the agency's investigation of the case was a "government-sanctioned assassination against one individual.
Witnesses testified last week that Belniak was a driving terror for miles before the fatal crash, driving on curbs, sidewalks and into oncoming traffic.
In the lawsuit, Tuomey discounts eyewitness accounts that said the Tahoe was stopped at the red light because "recorded statements were not taken at the scene, but were taken after the witnesses were contaminated and after being exposed to the massive negative media coverage against Belniak.
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Records stated Belniak was an officer in his parents' company and that the family owned more than two dozen properties. The families of the McWilliams and Bassi estates have sued Belniak in Hernando, alleging that in the weeks following the crash, he signed over four properties to his parents.
That case is awaiting the verdict of this Pasco lawsuit. The Pasco civil trial began June 4. Lawyers for the McWilliams and Bassi estates put on their cases first, then the lawyers representing Belniak in the family's lawsuit.
Tuomey's case, where Belniak is the plaintiff and the McWilliams estate is the defendant, began and ended Monday.
Subscribe Manage my subscription Activate my subscription Log in Log out. Regions Tampa St. Her mother and grandmother died at the hospital. Authorities said he had alcohol, Xanax and remnants of cocaine in his system when his Nissan Titan pickup plowed into their Tahoe without braking. One expert estimated his speed at 86 mph. Belniak pleaded guilty in August to three counts of DUI manslaughter and is serving 12 years in prison.
The family wanted him to serve more time, but they couldn't stand the chance, slight as it might have been, that at trial he could walk away free. There is a stipulation in Belniak's deal that he can never again have a driver's license and he can never petition to have his license reinstated. And they are all dead," said Georgette DeFranco, who lost her mother, sister and brother-in-law. After he is released, Belniak will serve 10 years probation. If he violates his probation, he could go back to prison.
The family of the victims sued Belniak in civil court seeking damages. In a stunning move that hurt and infuriated the victims' family, Belniak's sister, attorney Debra Tuomey, filed a countersuit, claiming the crash was the fault of Ray McWilliams — the driver of the Tahoe, whose wife died in the crash. She argued the victims' estates should pay Belniak for his pain and suffering.
Belniak suffered minor injuries in the crash. A witness testified that Belniak seemed more upset about the damage to his truck than to the people dying in his midst. The suits were combined into this trial, which began June 4. Counter to what all witnesses testified to seeing, Belniak told jurors McWilliams abruptly veered out in front of him, making the crash unavoidable.
The jury decided McWilliams was not at fault in the crash. In addition to the compensatory money awarded, jurors also said Belniak owed the estates punitive damages for his grossly negligent behavior. Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? In her opening statement Wednesday, attorney Maureen Deskins told jurors things that weren't admissible during the other portion of the trial.
She spoke of Belniak's prior criminal background: His eight speeding tickets and three citations for not observing traffic signs.
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