Car Crash killing Rep. Baird’s wife not considered intentional.
No intentional wrongdoing alleged in crash blamed for death of US Rep. Baird’s wife
No intentional wrongdoing alleged in crash blamed for death of US Rep. Baird’s wife
West Virginia authorities have not alleged any criminal wrongdoing against the driver blamed for the crash that badly injured Indiana Congressman Jim Baird and his wife.
A police report found the driver of another vehicle at fault but he has not been cited or charged.
Investigators will notify county prosecutors about the death of Danise Baird that occurred nearly two months after the Jan. 5 crash, said Mark Ralston, law enforcement administrator for the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department in Morgantown, West Virginia.
“There wasn’t anything that the investigation revealed that would show it was anything other than a traffic accident,” Ralston told the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Tuesday.
Baird’s congressional office announced that Danise Baird died Sunday following complications from injuries she suffered in the Jan. 5 crash that happened as the couple was driving to Washington, D.C.
Baird expressed thanks Tuesday in a social media post for “the kind condolences and messages of support.”
“The loss is profound, but your prayers and love have meant more than I can express,” Baird’s post said. “After 59 years of marriage, Danise was my closest confidant and lifelong partner in every sense. She believed deeply in the responsibility of serving the Fourth District by my side and never wavered in her support of that calling.”
Police blame unsafe lane change
Danise Baird, 77, was driving a 2020 Cadillac SUV on Interstate 79 near Morgantown about 6 p.m. when a gray pickup truck passing on its left side cut in front of the SUV and collided with it, according to witness accounts cited in a sheriff’s department crash report.
That collision sent the Baird SUV into the highway median, where it went airborne, the report said. One witness told investigators the SUV flipped four times.
Emergency crews had to extract Danise Baird from the vehicle before she and Jim Baird, who was in the front passenger seat, were taken to a Morgantown hospital.
The crash investigators blamed the pickup truck driver for the collision, saying he failed to properly yield and made an unsafe lane change. No other precipitating conditions were noted, such as weather or alcohol.
Another vehicle was struck in the crash and two others were damaged by debris from the highway median. No other injuries were reported from the crash that closed the highway’s northbound and southbound lanes for about two hours, the sheriff’s department said.
“I stopped my van and tried to assist the elderly couple to the best of my abilities,” said one witness statement. “I gathered the gentleman’s belongings and put what I could in their trunk. He’s retired Navy and I’m also a veteran so my heart goes out to them.”
Jim Baird, 80, was released from the hospital the next day but wore a neck brace for a time afterward.
Baird say he’ll “carry on”
Baird, a Republican, was a Putnam County commissioner and a member of the Indiana House of Representatives before first being elected to western Indiana’s 4th Congressional District in 2018.
Baird said in his Tuesday statement that he would continue with his congressional duties despite his wife’s death.
“While I continue to grieve, I will carry on the work she cared so much about, strengthened by the support of our family and an exceptional staff,” he said. “My office remains open to serve and support constituents.”
The couple’s son, state Rep. Beau Baird, described the crash about a week after it happened as a hit-and-run accident.
The police crash report, however, indicates that all drivers remained at the scene.
“All drivers involved in the matter could not recall all of the details of the crash due to having endured a traumatic experience,” the crash report’s narrative said.
Police later did followup interviews, including with Danise Baird in the hospital.
“Driver claimed to have seen ‘something white coming at us,’ which struck them and causing for their vehicle to spin,” the crash report said. “Driver claimed to have attempted to gain control of the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. The driver’s next reported memory was speaking with emergency responders on scene.”
Baird’s congressional office did not immediately comment Tuesday on whether the family wanted to see West Virginia authorities take action against the driver or explain the differing description of the crash.
U.S. Capitol Police, the agency that protects members of Congress, told the Capital Chronicle that the crash investigation was being handled by West Virginia authorities. The agency’s public information office didn’t answer a question about whether it had reviewed the circumstances of the crash.
