Blinded by rage and booze:
Man faces motor vehicle homicide charge in Mansfield crash
"Family remembers victim of Mansfield road rage crash" by Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff November 10, 2015
ATTLEBORO — Michael Hinds, 67, used an expletive to refer to the driver he collided with Monday morning on Interstate 495 in Mansfield and claimed the operator cut him off, said Bristol Assistant District Attorney Stephen Nadeau.
“I smashed into someone. It’s not like I killed anyone,” Hinds told police, according to Nadeau.
The crash killed 37-year-old Jarrad C. Aronne, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and injured his passenger, Brian Kiernan, 34, according to a police report filed in Attleboro District Court. Hinds fled to his home in Norton, where he was arrested, authorities said.
Outside the courthouse, Patricia Santos motioned to her heart and the cross Aronne gave her and said the alleged remarks hurt.
“I had to see the person that destroyed my family,” Santos said. “[Aronne is] not coming home tonight. He’s not ever going to see his kids. Guess what? He’s gone.”
Judge Edmund Mathers set Hinds’s bail at $75,000. Nadeau requested $250,000 bail.
The prosecution alleges Hinds was drunk at about 10:53 a.m. Monday when his Ford Ranger pickup truck made “intentional contact” with a Chevrolet 2500 pickup being driven by Aronne.
Little early, ain't it?
After the first collision, both vehicles took the Exit 12 ramp to Route 140, and the vehicles collided again, causing the Chevrolet to roll over on the ramp, State Police said.
“As the vehicles approached the area where it merges into one lane, the defendant made no effort to merge safely and cut off and collided with the victim’s vehicle, causing it to leave the pavement,” Nadeau said. “As a result of the defendant’s reckless and irresponsible actions, Mr. Aronne is deceased.”
Inside Hinds’s truck, investigators found three empty nip bottles of vodka, four open cans of Bud Light, including one that still contained a small amount of liquid, and two more beers that were still cold, according to a report by Mansfield police Detective Sergeant Lawrence Crosman.
Hinds told police he drank during the New England Patriots game on Sunday and had a “couple of beers” Monday morning because “he was stressed,” according to a report by State Police Sergeant William J. Nasuti.
He failed five field sobriety tests, twice telling police, “I am drunk,” Nasuti wrote. His blood-alcohol level registered .19, above the .08 legal limit for driving, according to Nasuti.
Nadeau said Hinds has been accused twice before of driving under the influence of liquor in 1985 and 1999 and that authorities are investigating the possibility that he had another drunken driving case in the 1960s. Hinds most recently sought treatment for alcoholism in August, Nadeau said.
Defense attorney Michael Maloney called the crash a “tragic accident.”
No, an accident is not meaning for something to happen. This was deliberate (if reports are to be believed).
Hinds, he said, “expressed his remorse that was someone was killed.” He is due back in court Dec. 11....
He expressed his true feelings when drunk.
He should have switched to heroin; then he would have been awarded sympathy.
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Should have checked the mirrors:
Two Boston officers dragged from moving car
"Dorchester man charged with dragging two officers with car" by Astead W. Herndon Globe Staff November 09, 2015
Though two Boston police officers flanked his car, Bryant Gilbert refused to obey their commands during a stop Sunday night, prosecutors said Monday.
“Put the car in park,” officers reportedly yelled as Gilbert declined to produce his driver’s license and car registration.
“I ain’t doing that,” Gilbert allegedly responded, according to a police report of the incident.
Moments later, police said, the car accelerated down Stratton Street in Dorchester, clipping one officer and dragging the other about 100 yards down Westview Street. Gilbert was caught, but not before what started as a routine traffic stop escalated into a costly one — leaving two officers injured and two cars damaged, and sending Gilbert, who is on federal probation, back to jail....
Gilbert told officers he worked for Uber at the time of his arrest, but a company spokeswoman said Gilbert was removed as an employee of the ride-sharing platform “several weeks ago.”
Uber spokeswoman Kayla Whaling said the company was still gathering information about Gilbert’s work history Monday, and it was unclear how long he drove with Uber before his removal.
Whaling could not disclose the reasons Gilbert was removed, she said.
According to prosecutors and police, two officers saw a black Nissan Murano weaving through traffic and speeding on Blue Hill Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday.
The officers turned on the blue lights and sirens on their unmarked cruiser, and the driver of the Nissan slowed down to about 5 miles per hour, police said.
The vehicle came to a stop near the intersection of Westview and Stratton streets and the driver, whom officials identified as Gilbert, kept the car keys in the ignition despite orders from police to do the opposite, officials said.
Both officers then reached into the car to pull the keys out of the ignition, but the driver instead accelerated, dragging both officers along with him, police said. One officer was quickly thrown from the car, but officials said the officer on the passenger side was dragged about 100 yards before the car crashed into a parked Toyota SUV.
The officer who was dragged also struck another car, shattering a mirror.
Police said Gilbert’s passenger pleaded with him to stop the vehicle; that person was not arrested.
Police said they seized three bags of apparent marijuana and $511 from Gilbert’s SUV, leading them to charge him with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
Gilbert, 45, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a police officer; failure to stop for a police officer; negligent operation of a motor vehicle; resisting arrest, drug possession, and leaving the scene of a crime. He was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail.
Gilbert is on federal probation stemming from a 10-year prison sentence for cocaine possession.
Is he one of the recent wave of releases?
He was arrested in that case in 2005, and records show he has previous drug trafficking convictions in 1991, 1998, and 2004 out of Dorchester District Court and Suffolk Superior Court.
Quite the revolving drug war door, and who benefited?
Since Gilbert’s release from federal prison in May 2014 he has violated probation four times, according to federal records.
In June, Gilbert was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence after a former girlfriend alleged he “pushed and shoved her,” records show. The other violations were for not notifying probation officers of a change of residence, lying, and associating with persons previously convicted of a felony without permission.
Suffolk County prosecutor Andrew Kettlewell said in court that Gilbert has a “13-page record” and had frequently gone by other names, including Gilbert Bryant and Brian Gilbert.
Gilbert is due back in court in December.
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"Worries raised after ex-Uber driver allegedly drags officers" by Astead W. Herndon Globe Staff November 11, 2015
Critics of ride-hailing services said the case of a Boston man with a long history of driving offenses who was arrested for dragging two police officers with his SUV highlighted the need for tougher regulations for Uber and similar companies.
Now I'm wondering if the event even happened. They took this flunky who they have controlled and monitored and sent him out to do this?
More government regulation, the $olution to everything in the Land of Freedom.
Bryant Gilbert was not employed by Uber at the time of his arrest, but did perform rides for a short time in the months preceding the incident, the company confirmed Tuesday.
Guilt by association, unless you are war-criminal scum or Wall Street crook.
But the ride-hailing service, which is headquartered in San Francisco, did not respond to numerous requests to verify the length of Gilbert’s employment, or detail how a convicted felon with history of driving infractions passed a company background check.
Well, the federal government and NSA can't seem to find the hackers, terrorists, or contractor spies in their midst, etc, so what can they expect of little old Uber?
Uber spokeswoman Kayla Whaling said the company’s specific safety processes for vetting drivers could not be disclosed for “privacy reasons.”
Gilbert would have been immediately denied for an application to become a taxi driver, said Donna Blythe-Shaw of the Boston Taxi Drivers Association
Blythe-Shaw, who is lobbying Governor Charlie Baker for tougher regulations on ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, said this lack of transparency from ride-hailing services endangers public safety.
She said that if taxi drivers commit crimes, regulatory agencies and public officials have a readily available database with names and addresses of drivers.
“Our position has been clear all along. These are companies who don’t have any regulations. And when you request it, they ignore you,” Blythe-Shaw said. “This would have never happened with Boston cab drivers.”
Related:
"The lawmakers previously said that JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs had provided insufficient responses to questions they sent earlier this year."
Makes my point for me.
Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans has called on Uber to implement extensive background checks and fingerprinting of its drivers, which goes beyond current regulations for taxi drivers.
“We recognize the benefit” of Uber, Evans said in September. “All we’re asking is to make these safety changes.”
Look at the total surveillance state being constructed in front of your eyes, something that always comes along after the fun and good of the technological introduction.
Since 1994, records show that Gilbert has received more than 20 traffic citations, including numerous suspensions of his driver’s license. In one year, Gilbert was found to be at fault for vehicle crashes in Dorchester and Roslindale, and had road infractions in Quincy, Dorchester, Seekonk, and Bridgewater.
Gilbert was incarcerated in federal prison from 2005 to May 2014 for a drug possession conviction, his fourth since 1991.
“This is a perfect example. It quantifies that they hire anybody and everybody,” Blythe-Shaw said of ride-hailing services. “And more of this is going to happen until the Legislature and law enforcement put their foot down on Uber and Lyft.”
Yeah!! Hail victory!
Ride-hailing companies were at the center of a contentious committee hearing at the State House in September, when four bills were debated before Legislature's Finance Committee.
Baker’s preferred legislation called for the Department of Public Utilities to oversee the ride-hailing services, and would force the companies to regularly submit a roster of drivers and addresses. The proposed law would also require services to subject drivers to two criminal background checks, though it is unclear which criminal offenses would disqualify an applicant from becoming a driver.
I'm thinking all drug and driving drunk offenses would disqualify, right?
When reached by telephone on Tuesday, a spokesman from Baker’s office said several offenses might disqualify an applicant from being a driver under the legislation. If the bill is approved, those offenses would be outlined by the public utilities agency.
The taxi driver’s union supports legislation proposed by Senator Linda Dorcena Forry of Dorchester and Representative Michael Moran of Brighton, both Democrats. The two have countered Baker’s proposal with a bill that would force ride-hailing services to buy costly commercial insurance policies.
Not like they have a $elf-intere$t there.
Why not make the stinky and smelly fleet better and compete in the marketplace instead?
Blythe-Shaw said the utilities department does not have the capacity to adequately regulate Uber, Lyft, and other companies.
“Businesses like Uber need to comply with current state regulations,” she said. “They should be certified, and they should be licensed.”
All government hears is cha-ching.
Gilbert was not employed by Uber at the time of his arrest on Sunday because he had been removed from the ride-sharing platform “several weeks ago” after the company learned of his criminal background, Whaling said.
But by the time of Gilbert’s removal, he had driven an unknown quantity of Bostonians for an unknown amount of time.
Running drugs most likely.
Is that what Uber is, an undercover drug delivery operation?
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Also see:
Speed probed in fatal Charles River crash
Truck in fatal Charles River crash was not part of recall
Man struck, killed after ejection from car in Stoughton wreck
Man charged with drunken driving in fatal Route 24 crash
I'm sorry I didn't get these to you sooner.
Maybe the time has come for a serious effort to ban booze, huh?
