Crime & Safety
Driver in Fire Truck Wreck Gives Jailhouse Interview, Admits Meth Use
Robbie Gillespie of Rancho Bernardo said he wishes he could take the place of his friend Evelyn Courtney, 19, who died in the June wreck in Poway.
Robbie Gillespie, the Rancho Bernardo man who is accused of vehicular manslaughter in the death of aspiring model Evelyn Courtney, told NBC San Diego he used drugs the day of the fatal crash.
Gillespie was arrested Thursday following several weeks of investigation into the crash, at Midland and Poway roads on June 20.
He credits Courtney, a Poway resident, with keeping him from doing more methamphetamine that day, when a Poway fire engine crashed into the side of the vehicle Gillespie was driving with Courtney in the passenger seat.
He said he didn't see the fire engine before the impact.
“Next thing you know I'm spinning around and slamming into a light pole,” he told the station.
He said he is being counseled by a pastor in the wake of the crash and trying to figure out why he was spared and Courtney was not.
Find out what's happening in Powaywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
