Churchville Man Gets 14 Months In DUI, Fatal Crash

A 23-year-old Churchville man will spend his next birthday behind bars after admitting to drinking and driving before a December 2011 crash in White Hall that claimed another man's life.

Charles Robert Creaney pleaded guilty Monday to a single count each of negligent homicide by motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and possession of marijuana, according to a release from the Harford County State's Attorney's Office.

Judge Maurice W. Baldwin sentenced Creaney to the maximum five years in jail before suspending all but one year and two months of that time. Once released, Creaney is ordered to serve five years supervised probation and make $13,787 restitution, the release states.

The accident occurred around 5 a.m., on Dec. 4 when Creaney's car crossed the center line and struck a car head-on operated by Donald Keith Van Gosen who was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier eastbound on Norrisville Road, or US Route 23, near Harford Creamery Road, Maryland State Police said at the time.

The 41-year-old Van Gosen, of Fawn Grove, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police and prosecutors say Creaney was going about 50 to 56 miles per hour in his 2007 Nissan Xterra in heavy fog while under the influence of alcohol, according to the release.

Creaney and his passenger, a 19-year-old Bel Air woman, were taken to York Hospital for treatment. Creaney's blood-alcohol concentration was .17 percent when his blood was tested three hours after the crash, the release states. The legal limit in Maryland is .08 percent.