Police beat: Cell phones, texting & trouble

Deaths, injuries and court sentences resulting from drivers who allegedly were chatting on cell phones or text messaging. These reports from police and the courts were gathered in the past 10 days or so.

HOUSTON — Police say Chanton B. Jenkins was talking on his cell phone when he lost control of the car, plunging it into a rain-filled ditch and killing five children. Jenkins was charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter in the crash. (From AP)

YORK, Pa. – A south-central Pennsylvania driver accused of text-messaging just before a crash that killed a pedestrian has been sentenced to prison. Brian Widmayer pleaded no contest to homicide by vehicle and careless driving resulting in an unintentional death. (philly.com)

REDDING, Calif. — A woman who slammed into a line of vehicles while text messaging on her cell phone was sentenced to six years in prison for killing a woman whose car was rear-ended and exploded in flames. Investigators said Deborah Matis-Engle was text messaging when she slammed into vehicles stopped at a construction zone. (Mercury News)

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — An Orange County driver who was allegedly text messaging when his vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Martin Burt Kuehl, 41, was charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence. “I didn’t see her in the crosswalk,” Kuehl said in court Wednesday. (NBC Los Angeles)

COLLINS, Ohio – A LifeFlight helicopter transported a Wakeman teenager to a Cleveland hospital Sunday after she dropped her cell phone while heading east on Ohio 18 and crashed her car while reaching for it. (Norwalk Reflector)

SHREVEPORT, La. — A woman who was text-messaging on her cell phone drove into the back of a Shreveport city bus as it was stopped to let a passenger off. Six people on the bus complained of injuries and were treated. Police suspected the driver had been drinking. (KTBS)