Driver who killed motorcyclist gets 14 years

 June 06, 2008

Driver who killed motorcyclist gets 14 years

By JAY STAPLETON
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- The driver of a van that collided with a popular
Ormond Beach motorcycle enthusiast last year in the Jacksonville area,
killing him, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Thursday.

Stanislaw Kropiewnicki, 55, of St. Augustine will be on community
control for one year when he gets out of prison. He pleaded no contest
in Circuit Court in St. Augustine to DUI manslaughter in the Feb. 10,
2007, crash that killed LaVerne Francis "Ivy" Ivis, 63, a retired
Delta Airlines captain.

"It was extremely difficult," Ivis' widow, Anne Ivis, said of
Thursday's hearing. "But I'm glad the court gave him what I would
consider maximum sentence."

Her husband, survived by herself, a daughter, Natalie, 17, and two
stepsons, was a decorated fighter pilot during the Vietnam War who
enjoyed riding BMW sport touring motorcycles.

"The motorcycles reminded him of his flying days," Anne Ivis said.

"Ivy," as he was called, was riding that day with a friend. He had
just turned onto County Road 210 in St. Johns County behind a truck at
11:15 a.m. Kropiewnicki crossed into his lane and slammed into him,
according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Ivis, who had logged 200,000 miles on his BMW, wore a helmet, gloves
and other safety gear, family members said. Kropiewnicki suffered
minor injuries and was not wearing a seat belt.

Adding to the shock for Ivis' survivors was the fact that he always
rode with safety in mind.

"Ivy never rode at night because he didn't want to ride with drunks on
the road," his widow said. "This man was all about safety."

"There's nothing we're happy about," she said of Kropiewnicki's
sentence. "It's just something that needed to be done."


~~~

By Tom Holton

Staff writer


ORMOND BEACH - A traffic accident in the Jacksonville area Saturday
claimed the life of an Ormond Beach man.

LaVerne Francis (Ivy) Ivis, 63, a retired Delta Air Lines captain, was
riding his motorcycle in northwest St. Johns County when a head-on
crash with another vehicle occurred, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

He was the third city resident to die in traffic a accident this year.

Capt. Ivis was riding east on County Road 210 when an oncoming van
driven by Stanislaw Kropiewnicki, 54, of St. Augustine, crossed the
double yellow line and collided with the motorcycle, troopers said.

Born in Boone, Iowa, in 1943, Capt. Ivis, a former Boeing 777
international pilot with Delta Air Lines, retired in 2002 after more
than 33 years in aviation

Survivors include his wife, Anne, of Ormond Beach; daughter, Natalie,
of Ormond Beach; sons, J.D. Minaberry, of Ormond Beach, and Matthew
Minaberry, of Port Orange; and two grandsons.

A Mass of Christian burial was scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 15, at
Prince of Peace Catholic Church.

---

    --PirateJohn--
www.PirateJohn.com

 
The late Mr. Ivis and his wife sound like class people.

R.I.P.

magnus

 
I wonder what that Billy Lane the bike-build-off star will get
sentenced to for having done the same thing...

Betting it'll be a slap on the wrist.

 

I wonder what that Billy Lane the bike-build-off star will get
sentenced to for having done the same thing...

Betting it'll be a slap on the wrist.




Or, how about Bill Janklow's 100 day sentence for the same
offense:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/22/janklow.sentencing/

 
Yep.  That's probably something like what Billy will get too.