Monday, March 21, 2016

Campanella Came Clean

"Police arrested a 21-year-old man who they believe hit a bicyclist, and fled the scene while driving intoxicated Friday in Wellesley, police said. Connor Campanelli, of Wellesley, was arrested after he voluntarily went to the police station on Friday night, and was charged in connection with the hit-and-run crash that left a 47-year-old Framingham man with injuries not considered life threatening, according to Wellesley Police. Charges filed against Campanelli include leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury, operating under the influence of liquor and causing a serious injury accident, police said. A witness to the crash told police Campanelli was driving south on Hampshire Road at about 6:10 p.m. Friday when his gray Toyota pickup truck collided head on with the bicyclist, police said. Campanelli was not at the scene when first-responders arrived, according to police. The bicyclist, who has not been identified, was found unconscious and unresponsive at the scene, and was taken by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centerpolice said. Campanelli was also charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, and failure to keep right for oncoming traffic, according to police. He was released on $3,000 bail and is set to be arraigned in Dedham District Court on Monday, police said. Wellesley police and the Norfolk District Attorney’s office are continuing to investigate the incident."

Patty's kid?

"Man pleads not guilty to Wellesley hit-and-run crash" by Ellen Ishkanian Globe Correspondent  March 14, 2016

DEDHAM — A Wellesley man had been drinking wine with friends less than an hour before allegedly crashing his pickup truck into a cyclist on a residential road Friday and driving away, authorities said.

A witness told police that Connor Campanelli, who was arraigned Monday on hit-and-run charges, had also been drinking at his family’s Wellesley home earlier in the day, where he was seen consuming three “Solo cups of champagne mimosas,” according to a police report on the crash filed in Dedham District Court.

After parting ways for a few hours, the group of friends gathered at Rocky Ledges conservation area in Wellesley to watch the sunset, where Campanelli, 21, “shared a bottle of wine” with another friend, the police’s witness said.

Shortly after the group left the conservation area around 6 p.m., witnesses saw Campanelli’s SUV cross over the center line on Hampshire Road and hit a cyclist, traveling in the opposite direction, head on.

Bruce Ingle, a 47-year-old from Framingham, sustained a serious fracture of two bones in his arm and was scheduled to undergo surgery during the weekend, according to the police report.

When interviewed by police Friday evening, Ingle had no recollection of the crash, police said. He had been wearing a helmet on his ride through the neighborhood of winding, hilly streets.

Within an hour-and-a-half of the crash, Campanelli turned himself in at the Wellesley Police Station, police said. He agreed to take a breath alcohol test, which registered .14, well above the legal limit of .08.

“I guess that’s what you get for chugging wine,” Campanelli said after learning of the test results, the police report said.

When Campanelli arrived at the station with his parents he smelled of alcohol, officers said. His eyes were red and appeared slightly swollen....

It's time to ban booze like guns.

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