Ex-courtesy patrol worker gets 2 years in fatal DWI crash

A former courtesy patrol worker was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for a 2013 drunken-driving crash that killed a nursing student in far north Fort Worth.

A Tarrant County jury sent Alan McKinney, 31, of Fort Worth to prison in the death of Amy Anders, 23, and gave him 10 years’ probation for seriously injuring the passenger in Anders’ car.

He was also fined $10,000.

On Tuesday, the same jury convicted McKinney of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.

Anders was two years away from being a registered nurse, relatives said.

The crash occurred on Jan. 19, 2013, as Anders pulled out of a parking lot in the 5900 block of Sandshell Drive at about 6:15 p.m. The car was hit by a pickup driven by McKinney, a civilian member of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department courtesy patrol.

McKinney was not on duty, authorities said.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and was later booked into the Mansfield Jail on $12,000 bail. He was released a day later.

McKinney was suspended from the courtesy patrol after his arrest, sheriff’s spokesman Terry Grisham said in a January 2013 interview. McKinney resigned on Jan. 30, 2013, amid an internal and criminal investigation, authorities said.

The courtesy patrol program, which falls under the Sheriff’s Department patrol division, is funded by state grants. Members are civilians who don’t carry guns and are not certified peace officers.

Courtesy patrol teams travel with tools to help motorists with minor trouble, such as flat tires or stalled engines, according to the Texas Transportation Department’s website.

The wreck occurred a few blocks from McKinney’s home, according to public records.

Anders was a 2007 graduate of Keller High School and was pursuing her degree while working as a technologist in the cardiovascular intensive-care unit at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Ex-courtesy patrol worker gets 2 years in fatal DWI crash."