A former sheriff's deputy in Fauquier County, Virginia, has been charged with reckless driving nearly one year after a high-speed crash that killed a husband and wife.
Investigators said Brock Smith was going 100 miles per hour in his cruiser when he slammed into the Mary and Brian Dangerfield's car as they began to cross March Road in the couple’s 2018 Toyota Camry on Feb. 25, 2022. The Camry flipped into the median.
Smith was not authorized to respond to any emergency calls and did not have the cruiser's emergency signals activated, Virginia State Police said.
The Dangerfields, who were both 65, died from their injuries.
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In June, Fauquier County and the couple's family of agreed to a $5 million settlement, lawyers for the family told News4 on Thursday.
“The family is grateful that the claims were resolved quickly and without drawn-out litigation, but this money could never replace the loss of Mr. and Mrs. Dangerfield. Not a day goes by when the grandchildren don't ask about their grandparents,” attorney Kevin Biniazan said after the settlement.
Brian Dangerfield died at the scene. Mary Dangerfield was taken to a hospital, where she died. They were both wearing seat belts.
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Smith, who was 25 at the time, was taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. He had not been wearing a seat belt, officials said.
He was terminated from the sheriff’s office less than a month later, News4 reported.
The Dangerfields “left this world suddenly and together, just as they had lived their lives for 43 years,” their obituary said. Their survivors include a daughter, a son-in-law and two grandsons, the “love and light of their eyes.”
