Beach was initially charged with DWI-felony serious injury, possession of drug paraphernalia, hit and run, leaving the scene, reckless driving, and failure to maintain lane control.
He pled guilty to felony serious injury by vehicle misdemeanor hit-and-run causing property damage in connection with the August 19 crash, and received a suspended sentence of 16 to 29 months followed by 45 days with 36 months of supervised probation.
Beach, who’s been in custody since the date of his arrest, will now be released with 241 days spent in pre-trial custody applied to his sentence.
He will begin supervised probation, where he’ll be required to enroll in and complete the Community Recovery Court Program.
He is also required to submit to frequent screens and searches, pay monthly probation supervision fees, and not operate a vehicle until properly licensed by the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.
Judge Richard Kent Harrell said to Beach "you're very lucky you didn't kill somebody that day."
But Beach left a lot of damage in his wake.
When officers located Beach after the explosion, they discovered a canister of nitrous oxide, and a can of spray paint along with a tube. Officers determined the inhalants were the cause of Beach's impairment.
The fire resulting from the explosion injured several firefighters. One firefighter, Eric Smallwood, suffered third degree burns on his hands from thwarting a fireball, and underwent multiple hand surgeries as a result.
As for Eastern Carolina Veterinary Medical Center, their 32,000-square-foot facility that was a few weeks away from its grand opening at the time of the incident, was demolished in December — with plans to rebuild a new facility.
