CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A Clarksville man has been given probation for causing a wreck that fatally injured a painting worker at the pedestrian bridge on Riverside Drive.
Justin Lee Clark entered an open guilty plea for one count of vehicular homicide, three counts of aggravated reckless assault, and one count of reckless endangerment for the 2018 Riverside Drive wreck that resulted in the death of 43-year-old Robert Bartz. The probation period will last three years.
Clark was sentenced Tuesday in Judge Jill B. Ayers’ court at the Montgomery County Courthouse, and he had to turn in his driver’s license for a minimum of three years.
After being arrested in January 2019, Clark served a total of six days in jail before he made bond.
The collision
Around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2018, Clark was driving a Ford F-450 utility truck south on Riverside Drive through the intersection of College Street under the pedestrian bridge. Investigators determined that he did not stay in the path of the work zone and crashed into a patrol car, almost striking the police officer on site.
Clark’s truck continued onward and then hit two work lifts with two men on each, then came to rest.
The construction work area had been cordoned off with orange cones, and the police car that was hit had been stationed at the site to divert traffic away from the construction area.
After the wreck, all four painters and Clark were transported to the hospital. Bartz died from his injuries at Vanderbilt University Medical Center a week later. Clark has stated on multiple occasions that he has no recollection of the wreck itself.
A blood sample from Clark showed that THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) was present in his system at the time of the wreck.
Open court testimonies
The men working that day were scraping and repainting the pedestrian bridge that crosses over Riverside Drive. Two of the other workers, Charles King Sr. and his son Charles King Jr., both testified on Tuesday.
King Sr. stated that he and his nephew, Gerald Buck, were clipped into the bucket of the lift.
“First thing I heard was a truck coming, I really thought the (police) officer was hit, I really did, and then I don’t remember nothing after that,” King Sr. said.
King Jr. told the court it sounded as if Clark’s “engine was floored,” and estimated that Clark’s truck was traveling about 50 mph.
The officer that was almost hit, Sgt. Bret Norfleet, also testified.
Clark’s ex-girlfriend, Melissa Foster, testified that she and Clark broke up after the wreck because he “wasn’t the same Justin I fell in love with,” afterward. They were together for four years.
Clark himself took the stand, and he apologized to Bartz’s family.
“No words can describe how bad I feel. I know I took so much from everyone and there’s nothing I can say. I apologize, but that means nothing,” Clark said.
The victim’s family reacts
After Judge Ayers announced that Clark was a “favorable candidate” for probation, Bartz’s family stormed out of the courtroom. The moment was tense and painful. The family’s anger seemed to make the air in the courtroom vibrate.
The family was not allowed to read their victim impact statements in open court. The Bartz family provided them to Clarksville Now, and they are attached.
Bartz family victim impact statements
“My husband was a good man. … This is not justice that you can kill somebody and walk away,” Yvonne Bartz, Robert’s widow, said.
“They’re worried about his four-year relationship going to heck,” Yvonne told Clarksville Now. “What about my 25 years of marriage? After this, they can get back together and do their happy little thing. What do I get? What do my children get? A headstone.”
“All I want to know is what kind of justice is this in the state of Tennessee?” Yvonne continued.
Valley and Robert Jr., Bartz’s children, were also distraught over the decision. They both spoke of how great of a man their father was, and how tirelessly he worked to sustain his family.
“He was my best friend in the whole world,” Valley said. “He knew when something was wrong or upsetting me before I even did,” she continued.
After Bartz died, his donated organs went on to save three lives.