Injured girl's dad accused of harassing Krell's son

3/12/2008

TEMPERANCE - The father of a Bedford Township teenager paralyzed in the 2006 road rage accident that killed Charles Fackelman has been accused of taunting the son of the Lambertville man whose actions contributed to the fatal crash.

Timothy Krell told authorities that Al Beale, 46, yelled profanities at him and spit on his pickup about 4:45 p.m. Sunday after following his vehicle into Lambertville.

Mr. Beale, of 3717 Montevallo Lane, Lambertville, was stopped later by Monroe County sheriff's deputies near West Temperance and Jackman roads after Mr. Krell reported to authorities that he had been the victim of a road-rage incident.

County Prosecutor William Nichols said the incident is under investigation for possible traffic offenses, and that a decision could be made as early as today on whether to file charges in the incident.

Mr. Krell, 28, is the son of Randy Krell, who was convicted in August of negligent homicide for chasing a carload of teenagers on June 15, 2006, after one of them threw a plastic water bottle at his car.

The chase ended when the driver, Austin Oberle, then 17, went through an intersection and hit a tree, killing Charles Fackelman, 17, a Whitmer High School senior. Mr. Beale's daughter, Stevie Beale, then 17, was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Three months before Mr. Krell's trial in Monroe County Circuit Court, Charles Fackelman, the father of the teenager who was killed in the crash, confronted Mr. Krell at his Lambertville home with a loaded gun and threatened him and a neighbor.

Fackelman, 47, of Toledo, was convicted in January of home invasion, gun posses-sion, and two counts of felonious assault in the incident. He is serving 5 3/4 to 20 years in a Jackson, Mich., prison.

Deputies said the incident involving the younger Mr. Krell and Mr. Beale began at Summerfield and Monroe roads, where Mr. Beale claims Mr. Krell rolled through the intersection without stopping and failed to yield for his 2006 Dodge Ram.

Mr. Beale followed Mr. Krell's truck on Summerfield to the intersection at Secor Road, where Mr. Krell said Mr. Beale pulled alongside his truck, cursed, and spat on it.

Mr. Nichols said the incident could result in Mr. Beale being charged with one of the following offenses: careless driving, following too closely, or reckless driving.

"People cannot be allowed to take the law into their own hands," the prosecutor said.

Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Costello, Jr., issued a court order against Mr. Beale to stay away from the elder Mr. Krell on March 29, a day after the confrontation with the gun-wielding Fackelman.

Mr. Krell, 52, said Mr. Beale had been driving past his house, making gestures, and taking pictures with a cell phone since August, 2006.

The order forbids Mr. Beale from entering the subdivision where Mr. Krell lives.

Contact Mark Reiter at:

markreiter@theblade.com

or 734-241-3610.