From Staff Reports

Kyle Donte Carney pleaded guilty June 11 to several counts following a February 2017 car crash that left a Montreat College track coach paralyzed.

Superior Court Judge Gary Gavenus gave Carney the maximum sentence statutorily allowed, but the incident has spurred Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams to appeal to the legislature to allow stiffer sentences for extenuating circumstances like this.

 Carney’s sentence could have been longer had he been impaired by alcohol or drugs, or if somebody had died.

He also was ordered to pay Olinger $162,456 for medical expenses as well as a $1,500 fine. He will also spend 29 to 47 months in jail, depending on good behavior.

According to police reports, Carney had been traveling 120 mph in a 20 mph zone. He had reportedly landed at the Charlotte Airport and driven his 2015 Nissan Altima to Winston-Salem to pick up his mail. He then turned around and was driving to Buncombe County to meet his husband in a hotel when, leaving the interstate, he ran into a guardrail.

He continued at 120 mph to the intersection of State Street and Montreat Road in Black Mountain, when he ran into Britten Olinger’s 2004 Mazda sedan. The impact set off a chain reaction, damaging three other cars and the Town Hardware building.

 Along with other serious injuries, Olinger’s spine was severed — and he was told he would never walk again. 

Carney and others went to the hospital with injuries and were treated and released.

 Carney was charged with, among other things, assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting serious injury.