Man gets probation for deadly crash that killed retired Army sergeant

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Putnam County man will spend two years on probation for causing a deadly crash in 2015.

Mathew Smith, 22, of Hurricane, was sentenced Monday morning in Kanawha County Circuit Court after an earlier guilty plea to negligent homicide.

Smith was driving a pick up truck when he slammed into a motorcycle being driven by Richard “Dick” Smoot, 67, of Tornado, on Coal River Road outside St. Albans. Smoot died from his injuries on July 2, 2015.

Smoot was a retired Army sergeant who had served in Vietnam, Iran and Iraq.

Prosecutors said Smith admitted to police he had been drinking and had been awake for 18 hours at the time of the crash. On Monday, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit also ordered drug/alcohol treatment for Smith.





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