PLEASE BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN DRIVING. I WOULD NOT WANT ANOTHER LOVED ONE OF MINE TO HAVE THEIR LIFE CUT SHORT BECAUSE OF SOMEONE ELSE'S DOING. SO THE NEXT TIME YOU DRIVE LATE AT NIGHT, OR DRIVE THROUGH AN INTERSECTION EVEN THOUGH IT IS GREEN FOR YOU, BE CAREFUL OF THOSE DRIVERS AROUND YOU.
AND REMEMBER TO LIVE EACH DAY TO THE FULLEST!!!
R.I.P. Tito/Ninong Benjamin Munar
October 31, 1955 - Febuary 3, 2005
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Driver free after 2 die in crash
Alcohol-level tests high; warrant may come today
February 4, 2005
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A man suspected of drunken driving allegedly killed two coworkers returning home from work in a crash early Thursday.
But the 22-year-old Madison Heights man is not in police custody.
Detroit police did not hold the suspect despite preliminary tests showing his blood-alcohol content at nearly three times the level at which someone can be convicted of drunken driving. Police said the suspect, who had not been charged Thursday, had blood drawn at St. John Hospital after the fatal crash. The test showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.22.
The State Police lab plans to test the blood more extensively. Michigan motorists can be convicted of drunken driving at 0.08 and above.
Around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Benjamin Munar, 49, finished work at Detroit Receiving Hospital and was driving coworker Annie Turner, 55, to her home on East State Fair in Detroit.
The 22-year-old driver of a red Ford Escort collided with Munar's 1994 Saturn at 7 Mile and Gratiot. Munar of Detroit was traveling north on Gratiot. The 22-year-old was speeding east on 7 Mile and ran a red light, police said.
Munar and Turner were dead upon arrival at St. John Hospital in Detroit. Munar's daughter, Michelle, 20, said her mother woke her at 2 a.m. because her father wasn't home yet.
"He's always home by 2," Michelle Munar said.
Munar's wife, Emerlita, got in her car and went looking for him. Unsuccessful, she came home, but decided to go back out.
Then, the phone rang.
"The police told me my father had been in a car accident and was on the way to the hospital," Michelle Munar said. "I was kind of dumbfounded. I didn't ask any questions."
Later, a nurse from St. John called and told her that her father hadn't survived.
"I still can't believe this," she said. "There are no words to describe my father. He was such a great person."
Turner's family could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Benjamin Munar worked 15 years as a maintenance man in the environmental services department of the hospital. A native of the Philippines, he moved to Detroit in 1984.
"He was a very dedicated worker, dedicated to his family," his daughter said.
Police said a warrant for the suspect's arrest could come as soon as today. Hospital officials said he was treated and released.
Police spokesman James Tate said the preliminary blood work is not admissible in court but is sufficient for a warrant. Tate said the blood work came back after the suspect already was treated and released.
"We didn't know when the blood work was going to be ready," Tate said. "We didn't know how long he would be in the hospital. He did suffer a broken clavicle and other cuts and bruises."
Michelle Munar didn't want to talk about why the man wasn't in custody.
"I can't think about that," she said. "I'm more focused on my family."
Visitation for Munar is 1-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 20705 Mack Ave. in Grosse Pointe Woods.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4160720/detail.html
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