Limo Driver’s Drug Test Negative; Misdemeanor Charges Likely

The limousine driver who crashed into a tree last month, injuring two Detroit Red Wings and a team masseur, had no drugs in his bloodstream and likely will be charged with a misdemeanor, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

“It appears that, unfortunately, the most we’re going to be able to charge is a misdemeanor, driving with a license suspended,” Oakland County (Mich.) Prosecutor James Halushka said.

“This tragedy illuminates a big loophole in our law,” because there are no harsher penalties for someone with a suspended license in an accident that kills or injures someone.

Birmingham police said Tuesday that tests on blood drawn from chauffeur Richard Gnida shortly after the June 13 accident showed no presence of narcotics.

Preparing to join the NHL in 1998, the Nashville expansion team has hired David Poile as general manager.

Poile was fired after last season as vice president and general manager of the Washington Capitals when the club failed to make the playoffs for the first time in Poile’s 15 years with the franchise.