Long Beach man sentenced in deputy's freeway death

Glenn Koenig, Los Angeles Times

Officers salute the casket of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David S. Piquette at Crossroads Christian Church in Corona.

Cole Allen Wilkins receives 26 years to life in prison in the death of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy killed while swerving to avoid a stove that had fallen from his pickup.

By Christine Hanley, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 12, 2008

A Long Beach man was sentenced today to 26 years to life in prison in the death of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who was crushed by a cement truck on the 91 Freeway after he swerved to avoid a stove that had fallen from the man's pickup.

Cole Allen Wilkins, 32, was convicted in May in the death of David Piquette, a 10-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department who was driving to work from Corona when the accident happened.

• 

  Cole Allen Wilkins

• 

  David Piquette

Prosecutors maintain that a murder charge was appropriate in the case because Wilkins was in the process of committing a felony -- he had stolen the stove -- when Piquette was killed.

Wilkins' attorney, Joseph Vodney, argued at trial that the case against his client was highly unfair, saying Wilkins didn't intend to harm Piquette.

The case dates to the early morning hours of July 7, 2006, when Wilkins was driving a Ford pickup loaded with appliances that were stolen from a home construction site in Riverside County. Piquette, a 34-year-old father of twins, was at the wheel of his county-issued Crown Victoria, on his way to work.

According to motorists who witnessed the incident, the tailgate on Wilkins' truck was down when the stove fell out as he drove west in the fast lane of the 91 Freeway in Anaheim.

At least two drivers traveling ahead of Piquette hit the stove but were unhurt. As other drivers including Piquette swerved to avoid the appliance, a cement truck landed on top of the deputy's car, crushing him.

According to prosecutors, Wilkins did not stop until a motorist who was driving behind him when the stove fell flashed his lights and honked his horn.

Wilkins gave the man a fake name and two fake telephone numbers and did not produce a driver's license or registration for the truck, prosecutors said. Wilkins also threatened the man and later gave a false name to California Highway Patrol officers trying to reconstruct the accident, authorities said.

Original here