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Motorist in ‘02 fatal crash charged with forgery

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

More than three years after she led Luthersville police on a deadly car chase that killed Peachtree City resident Chuck Vicha, Lorraine McCrary of Jonesboro will face additional charges stemming from evidence found at the scene.

McCrary, 40, has been charged with 10 counts of forgery in the second degree, resulting from 10 credit cards found in her Ford Explorer on the scene, police said. The cards that were registered to persons who never existed, officials said.

McCrary has entered a not guilty plea to those charges, court officials said.

Police speculated that the forged credit cards were a significant reason McCrary fled at high speeds from the Luthersville officer who was investigating damage reported to a traffic sign there. Three children were in the car at the time and all had to be taken to hospitals for treatment.

McCrary is currently serving a 15-year prison term after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in the first degree in December 2002. She later pled guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit identity fraud and social security number fraud, but the sentence in that case was made concurrent to her sentence in the vehicular homicide case, meaning she faced no additional prison time for the fraud charges.

More than 140 forged documents were found in McCrary’s car after the crash, according to detectives from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department.

McCrary’s Ford Explorer travelled at speeds well over 90 miles per hour at times as the pursuit came into Peachtree City on Ga. Highway 54 on July 27, 2002. She briefly detoured through The Avenue shopping center before heading back to the eastbound lanes of Hwy. 54.

Peachtree City Police, who got a brief warning of the pursuit, blocked off major intersections along Hwy. 54 in an attempt to protect innocent motorists like Vicha.

McCrary’s vehicle crashed into the driver’s side of the minivan Vicha drove, as he attempted to turn from the Peachtree Crossings East shopping center onto Hwy. 54 West.

Vicha’s mother, Alice Vicha, subsequently fought for tougher laws on police pursuits, and the Georgia Legislature passed legislation that makes fleeing from police a felony in certain cases. Previously, the charge was only considered a misdemeanor.

The Legislature also passed a bill called “Chuck’s Law,” which required police agencies to institute pursuit policies in writing or risk losing state funds for law enforcement. Alice Vicha recently told The Citizen that she wished that law provided oversight so each policy could be reviewed for its appropriateness.

Legislators at the time acknowledged that there were too many concerns about forcing compliance across the board for local jurisdictions.