The driver responsible for a DUI crash that killed an Arlington 19-year-old has been released from jail after less than two years behind bars.
Brooks Bare, who pleaded guilty to DUI involuntary manslaughter in the fatal rollover crash that took place on Oct. 12, 2024, was released from jail on Tuesday, Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti confirmed to ARLnow.
Bare was sentenced to two and a half years of active incarceration for the collision in the Tara-Leeway Heights neighborhood, which claimed the life of Washington-Liberty graduate Nicholas Rados.
His sentencing took place in March 2025, but he was released less than a year and a half later because of how sentences are calculated under Virginia law, Dehghani-Tafti said.
“The manslaughter charge involved here has a 65% service rate of the sentence imposed, colloquially referred to as ‘good time’ accrued/served,” she said. “Time served also statutorily applies for all sentences, so his sentence date began in October of 2024, not at the date of his actual sentencing hearing.”
The 20-year-old’s sentencing includes five years of supervised probation, followed by one year of unsupervised probation. His driver’s license is suspended indefinitely, and he is not allowed to use alcohol, marijuana or other drugs while on probation.
He also has a five-and-a-half year suspended sentence that would be served if he violates the terms of his probation.
“In all of this explanation, I don’t want it to be lost that the Rados family has suffered what no parent should ever suffer,” Dehghani-Tafti said. “Not a day passes where I don’t think about them and about Nick, and not a day passes where I don’t grieve for them.”
In his plea agreement, Bare admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at a party prior to the crash, which took place around 2 a.m. Bare was 18 years old at the time. His vehicle, which held four other passengers, struck three parked cars before overturning near the intersection of N. Harrison Street and 23rd Street N., according to court documents.
A blood sample obtained following the crash placed Bare’s blood alcohol concentration at .157 — nearly twice the legal limit. A variety of cannabinoid chemical compounds were also identified in his blood, according to court records.
Rados suffered fatal injuries after he was ejected from the vehicle during the crash.
Bare was sentenced to slightly less than prosecutors sought. They pursued the maximum allowed in his plea agreement: three years of active incarceration, plus a seven-year suspended sentence.
Other conditions of Bare’s probation include completing 250 hours of community service and watching six sessions of the Arlington County Recovery Court docket.
Earlier this year, Bare’s family also reached a $1.25 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit with the Rados family.
In honor of Rados’ memory, Rados’ family has established a charitable fund that has awarded over $36,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations. Grantees have included Mothers Against Drunk Driving and organizations related to his many interests.
The fund, which operates as a component fund of the Arlington Community Foundation, has supported the establishment of an internship supporting oyster restoration at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as well as the Nicholas Rados Rookie Referee of the Year Award at the University of Miami, where Rados studied. Other grantees have included Doorways and a sustainable garden at W-L.
“They want the work that they’re doing through the foundation to support these causes that meant something to Nick, but also to inspire other people to be like Nick — to be passionate about causes that they care about, and to get involved in their communities,” Christy Cole, chief philanthropy officer at the Arlington Community Foundation, told ARLnow.
