GUILTY FL - Donna Chen, 53, killed by drunk driver, Siesta Key, 7 Jan 2012

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[A] dog was rescued by a fisherman after swimming a mile out to sea when his owner was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver while jogging.

Rory O'Connor plucked petrified Barney out of the water while off the coast of Sarasota, Florida.

His owner Donna Chen, a mother of three, was run over and killed by an alleged drunk driver as she jogged with Barney - who ran for his life when he saw the accident.
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Posting the video on YouTube, the fisherman known only as midget2000x, said: ‘Our guess is that he was so freaked out and traumatised that he just wanted to get as far away from there as possible.

‘And when he ran out of land, he took to water.

‘I feel lucky that I was there fishing, because there was no place for him to go and I don't know if he could have made it much further.’
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"I think Barney coming back to us was a total miracle," said Dr. Chen.

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MagnoliaMom said:

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_sarasota_manatee/sarasota/family-sees-sign-in-dogs-return-from-fatal-accident

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In a courtroom filled with his family and the family of the jogger he killed nearly two years ago, Blake Talman apologized...

Talman entered a guilty plea Monday to DUI manslaughter, and other lesser charges, in the January 2012 death of Donna Chen.

Circuit Court Judge Frederick Mercurio sentenced Talman to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of probation. His driver's license is permanently revoked, and he must complete DUI school and a victim impact panel upon his release.

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Sarasota County commissioners this morning approved a $200,000 settlement with the estate of Donna Chen, who was killed by a drunk driver on Siesta Key in 2012...

The Chen family’s counsel said deputies made contact with Talman twice before the accident and arrested one of the 23-year-old’s friends for disorderly intoxication. Officers allegedly instructed the men to “go home or go to jail.”

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