PDF: Indictment on Jeremy Lane
A young man whose stepfather is an attorney at insurance giant Unum has been indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury on charges of driving drunk and killing another Unum employee as she walked to work.
Unum officials confirmed Thursday that attorney and Unum employee Gary Bond is the stepfather of Jeremy Lane, 25, who is charged with vehicular homicide in the Dec. 23, 2009, accident that killed Unum employee Susan Berry Wood.
Mr. Lane also was indicted late Wednesday on one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, making a false report and driving under the influence. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 26 in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
On Thursday, Unum spokeswoman Mary Clarke Guenther called it a “tragic situation” that affected the entire Unum community just two days before Christmas. It wasn’t until later that the relationship between Mr. Lane and Mr. Bond came to light, she said.
“As one of the major employers in town with thousands of employees, it is an odd coincidence that there is a family connection,” Ms. Guenther said. “That’s really all it is, just a coincidence.”
Ms. Guenther said she could not speculate how Mr. Bond’s role at Unum would impact any civil litigation should it arise because of the criminal case. There are about 175 attorneys who work for Unum companywide, she said.
“(Mr. Bond’s) role is as a family member supporting Jeremy,” she said.
Mr. Lane was an employee at Chattanooga Billiard Club who, when driving home after his shift about 7 a.m., struck the 42-year-old Mrs. Wood at Walnut and Fourth streets while she was reporting to work, according to police.
Police say Mr. Lane was drunk behind the wheel of his Nissan sports car, ran a red light, hit Mrs. Wood, fled the scene, then called police and pretended he had been carjacked to cover his tracks.
The incident drew negative attention to the Chattanooga Billiard Club, a long-standing downtown bar on Cherry Street. One of the club’s female employees testified at Mr. Lane’s initial court appearance in January that she had been drinking alcohol after the bar closed at 3 a.m. the day of the accident. She said she never saw Mr. Lane drinking.
City law forbids the consumption of alcohol in bars between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays and forbids bar employees from ever drinking where they work.
The Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board voted to suspend the club’s beer license for three days, a decision its owners are protesting in Chancery Court. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for June.