Farmer who didn't stop combine at intersection, causing triple fatal crash, won't be charged

Couple, 15-year-old daughter killed

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Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Posted: 01/24/2013
Last Updated: 117 days ago

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Prosecutors have decided not to charge a farmer whose failure to stop a combine at an intersection caused a crash that killed three people.

Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington told the Journal & Courier that under prior Indiana Court of Appeals rulings negligence in a wreck doesn't amount to a criminal offense. He says 36-year-old Carl McFarland of West Point therefore won't be charged in the Oct. 31 crash.

That crash near Lafayette killed 62-year-old Daniel Fox of Attica, his 40-year-old wife, Stacy Fox, and their 15-year-old daughter, Demara Fox, when their minivan drove under a spiked harvesting apparatus known as a cornhead attached to McFarland's combine.

A Fox family spokesman says they're glad McFarland won't face charges because the fatalities were "just a horrible accident."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Indianapolis , IN  
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