Funeral Held For An Owasso Teen Involved In A Traffic Accident On Saturday

Funeral services were held Wednesday for Michael Phillips, the Owasso teenager who was killed in a car crash on US Highway 75 last weekend near Ramona. And more details are emerging about the man who

Wednesday, July 12th 2006, 10:25 am

By: News On 6

Funeral services were held Wednesday for Michael Phillips, the Owasso teenager who was killed in a car crash on US Highway 75 last weekend near Ramona. And more details are emerging about the man who Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers say hit Phillips' car from behind at a high rate of speed.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg talked with one of Phillips' friends, who shared his memories and his concerns. "He brought smiles to every single person that walked into that restaurant." Jason Hill worked with 19-year-old Michael Phillips at the Red Robin Restaurant. He was one of hundreds of friends and family members that attended Phillips' funeral service in Owasso Wednesday. "He would come in on his day off just to see what everybody was up to and just kind of have a good time and always laughed, always made the guests he took care of laugh. He never had any issues, never had any problems, he was a really well-liked guy."

And Hill says he has no animosity toward the man who allegedly hit the car that Phillips was riding in on Saturday. But he does have questions about 22-year-old David Olinghouse's driving record. According to court records, in the past 5 and-a-half years, Olinghouse got 9 tickets, 3 for speeding, although one speeding ticket was dismissed with costs. â€œWell I'm by no means a judge, or anything like that, but I do, for his family's sake and his friends' sake, and his co-workers sake. I do feel that an investigation needs to be done."

The OHP trooper at the scene of the crash says he found a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels in the back seat of Olinghouse's Nissan Sentra. He says blood was drawn from Olinghouse at the hospital, although that's typical in a fatal crash.

Witnesses told troopers that Olinghouse might have been driving as fast as 100 miles per hour.

Hill says that should be a lesson to everyone. "It's not just a speeding ticket time, it's not a fine you have to pay. It's not going before a judge, it's killing someone, and that's very tragic."