◼ My Word: Questioning Gallegos' public safety priorities
Kenneth Quigley/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 05/30/2010 01:24:22 AM PDT
Articles keep popping up in all of the Humboldt County newspapers with Mr. Gallegos telling us how public safety is his top priority. If this wasn't so sad, it would be funny.
I received a certified letter from Folsom Prison recently letting me and my family know that Anthony Flores, the coward that ran from the scene when he and Jason Whitmill -- a three-time felon -- killed my daughter on Oct. 6, 2008, will be released from prison on Jan. 12, 2011.
Only in Humboldt County, Calif., can you race down the freeway at 103 mph with a car full of drugs playing chicken with a drunk on meth who is a convicted felon and was released from prison 12 days prior, no insurance, hit an innocent family killing one little girl and almost killing her mother, run from the scene of the accident to be found days later, paint your car to cover the evidence and spend one year in prison for it.
Mr. Gallegos, you and you alone were responsible for the prosecution of Anthony Flores, you and you alone failed miserably, and Flores will be back on the streets of Humboldt County next year while Nicole Lynn Quigley is nothing but a sweet memory to her family and friends.
The last time I felt as sick to my stomach as when I read the letter from Folsom Prison this morning was when the Arcata Police chaplain gave me the information that shattered mine and my family's lives on that evening of Oct. 6, 2008.
Some, including Mr. Gallegos, say I am just a grieving father; well, I am, this is true, but for Mr. Gallegos to keep telling our community that public safety is his top priority and then allowing repeat felons and their accomplices back on our streets after they kill our children with a slap on the wrist somehow makes me think that this could upset people other than the victims of his total incompetence. We will find out on June 8, 2010.
Kenneth Quigley resides in McKinleyville.
