A Delaware man with a 20-year history of driving violations was on a suspended license when he fatally struck two people in Wildwood last month, according to information at his detention hearing.
Gerald White, 37, will remain jailed after a detention hearing that included a list of his driving history dating to when he was 17 years old.
He was in town for the H2Oi car rally that authorities have said was not sanctioned and resulted in several crashes throughout the city.
White first garnered police attention when he was stopped in a crosswalk where numerous pedestrians were trying to cross, Assistant Prosecutor Dara Paley told the judge.
A uniformed officer tried to stop White, who was in his car with the window down wearing a white mask that cover his whole face.
That is when White allegedly backed up until he collided with a truck. He then ignored the officer’s order to stop and continued through a red signal onto Atlantic Avenue, Paley said.
The officer put out information on the vehicle, which reportedly struck a building moments later.
White is accused of striking the passenger side of a car crossing another intersection.
Passenger Timothy Ogden, 34, of Clayton, Gloucester County, later died at the hospital from his injuries.
White lost control of his car, which headed south and struck two pedestrians standing in front of a cafe.
Lindsay Weakland, 18, of Carlisle, Pa., was pronounced dead at the scene.
White then tried to flee the scene on foot, but was stopped with the help of an off-duty Cape May County corrections officer.
Paley showed video during the detention hearing, including from White’s Instagram, which showed him in the white mask. That same mask was found near the crash, she said.
The prosecutor also listed White’s significant driving history, including 20 separate motor vehicle convictions and six license suspensions.
“For 20 years, this defendant has had an adverse driving history,” she said.
Defense attorney Kate Weigel said there was no evidence to back up the claims, saying video showing White allegedly speeding could be misleading since the cars in the background are all at a stop.
She also painted her client as a hardworking son and father, who has been a caretaker to his mother in New Castle, Dela., where he’s lived for seven years.
Information released by law enforcement had him living in Pittsburgh.
White’s girlfriend and their teen daughters live nearby and he helps support them financially and emotionally, Weigel said.
But the judge found the state proved its case to keep White jailed.
