Bassist for 3 Doors Down charged with DUI, vehicular homicide

The popular rock band 3 Doors Down is scheduled to perform in Massachusetts this summer. But the prospect of hearing and seeing the band live has dimmed for many in recent days as news emerged that the group’s bassist was charged this past weekend with killing another driver in what police describe as an impaired-driving car accident.

Drummer Todd Harrell, 41, was apparently driving his Cadillac at a high speed on a Tennessee interstate highway when he clipped a pick-up truck.

The truck careened out of control, and went down an embankment where it overturned, law enforcement officials said.

A 47-year-old man died in the crash, Nashville police said.

The band said in a statement on its website that members of the group are “deeply saddened” by the death.

Police said that at the scene of the crash, Harrell showed signs that he was impaired. He was asked to perform field sobriety tests and reportedly admitted to authorities that he had been “consuming hard cider” and had also ingested prescription drugs Lortab (an opioid pain reliever) and Xanax (an anti-anxiety medication).

The drummer for the Mississippi group known for “Kryptonite” and other hit songs is also charged with bringing controlled substances into the county jail. Davidson County Sheriff’s deputies apparently found a plastic bag hidden in one of his socks; the bag contained 24 Oxycodone tablets, eight Xanax pills and four Oxymorphone tablets, law enforcement officials said.

It should go without saying that no one should ever drive after consuming alcohol and/or those kinds of powerful drugs.

Source: Reuters, “3 Doors Down bassist charged in fatal crash in Tennessee,” Tim Ghianni, April 20, 2013

• Our Massachusetts law firm represents victims of impaired drivers in the Worcester area.