Kenyan jailed in US for drunk driving after 9 years on the run

An aerial view of the Montgomery County State Attorney's offices and the Montgomery County Circuit Court, where a Kenyan, Wilfred Christopher Olalo, who fled the US after causing a crash that killed a retired police officer nine years ago was sentenced. GRAPHIC | GOOGLE MAP  

In Summary

• Mr O’Brien succumbed to his injuries two years later in 2006.
• The judge at the time asked him to surrender his passport pending sentencing but he fled to Kenya.

By ANTONY KARANJA
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A Kenyan man who had been on the run for almost a decade appeared before a US judge on Wednesday to face charges of homicide by motor vehicle.

Mr Wilfred Christopher Olalo was wanted on charges stemming from a drunk-driving crash that seriously injured a retired Maryland police officer in December 2004.

Mr Olalo caused three crashes in less than half an hour in the city of Rockville, MD.

In one of the crashes, he slammed into the back of two vehicles, one of which was being driven by the retired cop, 76-year-old Joseph O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien succumbed to his injuries two years later in 2006.

According to court documents, he was found completely inebriated and could not stand up on his own when arrested.

Mr Olalo appeared before a judge in April 2006, where he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and vehicular homicide and was scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

INTERPOL

The judge at the time asked him to surrender his passport pending sentencing, but he fled to Kenya.

After nine years on the run, Mr Olalo was apprehended in Kenya earlier this year after joint efforts by the US and Kenyan authorities as well as Interpol.

“It's just good to know that Interpol, the state department and our friends in Kenya in the law enforcement community over there were able to get this fugitive and bring him back,” said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the Montgomery County State Attorney.

Mr Olalo was sentenced to the maximum jail time of three years and 60 days and is expected to face additional charges for skipping bond, which may earn him an additional five years in jail.

He apologised to the family of the late Mr O’Brien but he said he could not remember the details of the crash.

The victim’s family accepted the apology but were bothered by the fact that he could not remember the crash.