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« Indictment alleges Coventry man tried killing wife July 4 | Today | Break out the covers -- freeze warning ahead » November 7, 2007Update: Teen's parents advised him not to take breath testBARRINGTON -- The 16-year-old Barrington driver who police say slammed a car into a tree on New Meadow Road Monday, killing the front-seat passenger, refused a police request to take a chemical test in the emergency room on advice from his parents, who were with him, Police Chief John M. LaCross said today. LaCross also said at a 2 p.m. police station news conference that the driver and his three passengers came from someone's house where they had consumed alcohol. The police are also looking into whether the four underage teen boys may have been drinking somewhere else before the party at the house. The driver had a provisional license, which meant he was allowed in the car with only one person under age 21 who was not related to him, the police chief said. Three were in the car with him, including the victim, Jon Converse, 17. The driver and the two other passengers, ages 16 and 17, have not been identified by police. "People are realizing this is turning into an epidemic," LaCross said of under-age drinking at a news conference also attended by state Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, who also answered media questions. The chief would not say which house the boys had come from or whether there were parents at home at the time. But at the boy's Family Court arraignment earlier today, Assistant Attorney General Susan Urso said the boy and four other teens decided to get some beer and hang out behind his father's house after school Monday because there would be no school Tuesday, which was devoted to teacher training in the Barrington public schools.
The teens pitched in money and had a 30-pack of beer delivered to the house, and then drank beer in the back yard, near a fire pit and a shed, Urso said. The teens were at the house between 6 and 9 or 9:30 p.m., before they drove to a Taco Bell in nearby Seekonk, Mass., she said. At about 10:50 p.m. Monday, the boy was driving when the car came to a stop sign; he “squealed the tires or burned rubber” and took a right onto New Meadow Road, Urso said. The boy was “shimmying the wheel” and driving up to 60 mph in a 30 mph zone when he lost control of the car, which smashed into a tree, she said. The 16-year-old driver's lawyer entered denials on his behalf of the two juvenile delinquency petitions against him, which accuse him of refusing to submit to a chemical breath test and driving to endanger, death resulting. An earlier version of this blog item incorrectly reported that latter charge. The latter charge is also different from one spelled out yesterday in a press release about the crash from Barrington police, who had said the driver was being charged with driving under the influence, death resulting. Posted by Mike McKinney CommentsMichelle | November 7, 2007 5:25 PM link Who's charging the liquor store/delivery man with selling alcohol to a minor? Votalato refused a breath test but wasn't charged with refusing or anything else for that matter. Jim | November 7, 2007 5:55 PM link Gee, in reading the transcript of the family court hearing I wonder who advised the parents to have him not take the brethalyzer test - apparently his unlce is an attorney and grandfather is a judge! jo | November 8, 2007 1:47 PM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
The parents advised him not to take the breathalyzer? What is WRONG with people? I cannot believe that.. those parents should be ashamed, and I hope the parents of the teen who died sue them for every penny they have.