John Joseph Yenchak III plead guilty to reckless driving after striking and killing a man outside a bar in Stafford County on Monday, August 15.
Yenchak is a former Stafford County Sheriff’s Deputy who was driving his patrol car at 60 mph on Garrisonville Road near Paddy’s restaurant in North Stafford, in July 2021.
The speed limit along this four-lane portion of the road is 45 mph. Yenchak was not responding to an emergency call when he collided with the victim, Jesse Schertz, 44, of Norfolk pronounced dead at the scene.
The collision occurred after midnight in rainy conditions, said Yenchak’s attorney Bradley Marshall, with Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, P.C. in Manassas. Schertz may have crossed the road to hail a taxi.
A dashboard camera from a second sheriff’s deputy cruiser who was traveling near Yenchak captured the collision, showing the victim crossing Garrisonville Road.
Marshall said the victim had been at the bar for hours and had a blood alcohol content of .25%. The legal limit in Virginia is .08%.
A judge sentenced to 30 days in jail, with all time suspended, a $1,250 fine, and 400 hours of community service. Marshall said Yenchak met with and apologized to the victim’s family.
A Grand Jury indicted a former Stafford County deputy on involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving charges on January 24, 2022. He was fired from the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office in December 2021, where he worked for about a year.
The Stafford Commonwealth Attorney’s Office transferred the case to special prosecutor Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Walther of the Culpeper County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
