Politician’s Wife Refuses Ambulance Right of Way — Judge’s Punishment Fits the Crime Perfectly

Sometimes the difference between life and death is measured in seconds. And today someone learned that the hard way.

Her name was Diane Whitmore, 51 years old, married to Congressman Gerald Witmore, a man who had represented our district for 16 years. Diane drove a black Cadillac Escalade luxury vehicle, the kind that cost more than most people make in a year. She had vanity plates that read vote GW, as if anyone could forget who she was married to.

On the morning of June 3rd, Diane was driving on Madison Avenue heading downtown. Traffic was moderate, nothing unusual. It was 10:17 in the morning. I know the exact time because it matters. Every second mattered that day.

Behind Diane, about four cars back, an ambulance turned onto Madison Avenue. Lights flashing, sirens blaring. You know that sound, that urgent wailing that tells everyone to move, to get out of the way, to let them through because someone’s life depends on it.

Inside that ambulance was a six-year-old boy named Daniel Park. Danny, his mother called him Danny. He was having an allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock. His throat was closing. He could not breathe. The paramedics were doing everything they could, but they needed to get to County Hospital. They needed to get there fast.

The cars in front of Diane pulled to the side. They did what you are supposed to do, what the law requires, what basic human decency demands. They moved over. They let the ambulance through.

But when the ambulance reached Diane’s Escalade, she did not move. She stayed in her lane. She kept driving at exactly the speed limit, 35 mph. Not slower, not faster, just cruising along like nothing was happening behind her.

The ambulance driver, a man named Marcus Chen, hit his sirens louder. He flashed his lights. He got as close as he safely could. Diane did not move. She looked in her rearview mirror. The dash cam from the ambulance caught it all. She looked right at them. She saw them and she did not move.

Marcus had to slow down. He tried to go around her, but the traffic was too heavy. Other cars could not move over because Diane was blocking the way.

For two and a half miles, that ambulance crawled behind Diane Whitmore’s Escalade while a little boy fought to breathe in the back.

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Finally, the traffic opened up enough for Marcus to swerve into the oncoming lane. He went around Diane and sped toward the hospital. But those two and a half miles took four minutes. Four minutes where Danny could not breathe properly. Four minutes where every second counted. Four minutes that Diane Whitmore stole from a dying child.

Danny made it to the hospital. The doctor saved his life. But it was close. Too close. The attending physician later testified that if the ambulance had arrived even 90 seconds later, Danny might not have made it.

Ninety seconds. That is how close this little boy came to dying because someone would not move their car.

Marcus Chen filed a report. He had to. It is protocol when someone refuses to yield to an emergency vehicle. The police reviewed the dash cam footage. They saw everything. Diane driving along while the ambulance begged her to move. They saw her looking in her mirror. They saw her complete and total indifference.

The police cited Diane for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. That is a misdemeanor in our state. The fine is up to $500. Most people just pay it and move on.

But this was different. This was not someone who panicked or did not notice. This was deliberate. This was a choice.

The district attorney decided to prosecute. He wanted to send a message. So the case came to me.

Diane Whitmore walked into my courtroom on a Tuesday morning in September. She wore a cream-colored suit, pearl earrings. Her hair was perfect. She carried a designer handbag. She looked like she was going to a charity luncheon, not a court hearing.

Her attorney was Richard Cross, an expensive lawyer, the kind who represents politicians and celebrities and people who think the law is negotiable.

Richard came prepared with arguments about how this was all a misunderstanding, how Diane had not realized the ambulance needed her to move, how she was distracted, how this was much ado about nothing.

The prosecutor was a young woman named Alice Kim. She was maybe 30 years old, serious, determined. She had Danny’s mother with her, Jennifer Park. Jennifer sat in the front row holding a photo of her son, Danny in his school picture, smiling, gap-toothed, innocent.

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Alice presented the case methodically. She showed the dash cam footage. We watched it on the courtroom screen. The ambulance coming up behind Diane’s Escalade. The sirens loud and clear even on the video. The lights flashing. Cars pulling over. And then Diane just driving, looking in her mirror, seeing them and not moving.

Alice called Marcus Chen to testify. He was a 20-year veteran paramedic. He had seen everything. He spoke calmly, but you could hear the frustration in his voice.

“Your honor, in my 20 years doing this job, I have never seen anything like it. People sometimes freeze. They panic. They do not know where to go. I understand that. But this was different. She saw us. She knew we were there. And she just did not care.”

Alice asked him if he tried to get her attention. He said he tried everything. Sirens, lights, air horn. He got as close as he safely could. She looked right at him in the mirror.

The testimony continued…