Raleigh Man Found Guilty Eight Years After Fatal I-540 Drag Race

On Friday, May 29, a Raleigh man who was involved in a fatal drag race on Interstate 540 eight years ago that resulted in four teenagers dying from the personal injuries the sustained was found guilty of hit-and-run.

On Friday, 25-year-old Chris Petersen was given a 45-day suspended sentence and one year of supervised probation.

Petersen was also facing charges of filing police reports in the incident after telling police the vehicle was stolen, but was found not guilty of those.

The judge said that he did not take some of Petersen’s prior convictions into account for sentencing, but he hopes Petersen will learn from his mistakes.

Petersen pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle and one count of excessive speed in June 2004 in connection with a crash in May 30, 2001 that took the lives of Bryan Reaves, Jamie Brewer, Mike Smith, and Matthew Yurcak.

According to the prosecution, at the time of the teens’ deaths, Petersen was racing with them. The defense argued that the teens were not racing and that Petersen was not at fault for their deaths.

As part of his probation, the judge ordered Peterson not to drive for three years. He later served 90 days in jail for violation of his probation by driving.

Peterson also faces a May 9 charge of driving while impaired in a separate incident, according to public records.