James Gleich’s drivers record from the time he apparently lived in California turns up clean. But it’s too old to know for sure if there was ever anything on it.
Geich was the driver who police say struck bicyclist Mingo Pelkey on River Road in Eugene this past August. Pelkey died shortly after the collision. (See a list of earlier posts for all the background.)
It took a while to get the printout from the California DMV, but as for violations or accidents: “None to report.”
Of course, it has been more than four years since Gleich was issued an Oregon I.D. card (in October 2007). Assuming that’s when he moved here, any number of things that might have been on his California record would have been removed by now. So we can’t say there was never anything here — but, of course, we can’t say that there was, either.
In California, most moving violations, accidents and license suspensions are cleared off a driver’s record after either three or four years.
A few convictions stay longer, such as driving while suspended and driving while intoxicated. A DUI in California stays on a drivers record for 10 years. So it would seem he had neither of those, anyway.
As for the status of his license in Oregon, the DMV in Salem says the open-ended suspension we reported on earlier, which took effect Sept. 22, is still in effect.
As for the status of the police investigation into the fatal River Road crash, I’m checking with the D.A. and with the police. I don’t expect them to have much to say, and I’m assuming the case is still open. But I’ll keep you posted if I learn anything else.
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For a list of all posts about the Mingo Pelkey case, go here.
Mingo has been on my mind a lot lately and I wondered if any further action had been taken against Gleich. Thank you for keeping this on your radar and pursuing it!