"Driver in fatal crash asked about DUI penalty, prosecutor says; Walpole man held in fatal accident" by Peter Schworm, Globe Staff November 17, 2014
As paramedics rushed to the side of a gravely injured passenger trapped in a rolled-over car, a state trooper heard screams from across the road.
It was the driver, Jeffrey Mason, curled up on the ground about 20 feet into the woods Saturday morning in Hyde Park. He smelled of alcohol, and needed help to walk, police said.
The passenger, Lillian Grover, a 41-year-old Roslindale resident, died a short time later. On Monday, a prosecutor said Mason, already convicted of drunken driving three times, was trying to flee.
During an interview with police, Mason repeatedly asked about the punishment for a fourth drunken-driving conviction and kept saying he “was screwed,” Suffolk prosecutor Gretchen Sherwood said at Mason’s arraignment, where he was charged with motor vehicle homicide in the crash.
Mason, 42, kept his head lowered throughout the hearing at West Roxbury District Court, and stared at the floor. Bail was set at $500,000.
Mason’s driving record shows 11 pages of violations dating back to the 1980s. Along with the drunken-driving charges, the Walpole man has been cited for eight speeding violations and four other surchargeable violations.
Police say Mason was speeding when his car crossed the yellow line on Enneking Parkway, spun out of control, and crashed into a ditch. The Honda Accord, registered to Mason’s wife, then rolled over before the passenger side crashed into a tree, police said.
Mason told police his tire blew out, causing him to lose control. But police say Mason was slurring his words and had glassy, bloodshot eyes.
Mason suffered a pulmonary contusion but no broken bones.
Mason said he had gone out with Grover, the mother of two young children, and that he was driving her back to Roslindale, where her car was parked.
Mason took a chemical blood test to determine his alcohol level. Results will be available in a couple of days, Sherwood said.
Mason’s lawyer, Robert Tobin, said it was the first charge against him in eight years, and that he had complied with the terms of probation in the past. He said his injuries from the crash may explain his poor speech and balance, and said he was not trying to run away.
“He was found 20 feet away in the woods,” he said. “If he wanted to flee, he would have been long gone.”
If Mason is able to make bail, Judge Debra Shopteese ordered that he wear a GPS monitor, remain under home confinement, and submit to random alcohol tests.
Mason’s first drunken-driving charge was in Chelsea in 1992. He was convicted in West Roxbury in 1995, and a third time in Quincy in 2006.
He is also a convicted sex offender for attempting to disseminate obscene material to a child.
Mason was charged with speeding three times between 1987 and 1990. In 1993, he was charged with speeding in Malden, Revere, and Dorchester within the span of six months, records show. He was also charged with speeding in Roxbury on two different occasions in 1994 and 1999.
Michelle Nicholson, a friend who grew up with Grover in Hyde Park, told the Globe earlier that Grover was a dedicated and loving mother. She was a hard worker who sometimes held down several jobs, including as a home health care aide, to keep her family afloat, she told the Globe.
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