Woman in fatal crash pleads not guilty
Suspect in tow truck driver’s death faces OUI, homicide charges
A Lawrence woman who prosecutors say was drunk behind the wheel when she struck and killed a tow truck driver in Andover Wednesday night was arraigned on a vehicular homicide charge in her hospital bed in Boston yesterday.
Shiina Dionne, 28, told state troopers at the scene that she had consumed three shots of vodka prior to the chain reaction crash that claimed the life of Mark Coady, 41.
From her hospital bed at Tufts Medical Center, Dionne pleaded not guilty to charges including operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and motor vehicle homicide while operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Dionne remains in fair condition at the hospital, where she is being treated for injuries she suffered in the crash.
During her arraignment, Essex Assistant District Attorney Brett Sabbag asked for $10,000 cash bail before reading from a police report that revealed that Dionne’s blood-alcohol level was actually registered below the legal limit, at 0.03, with the legal limit set at 0.08. But Sabbag noted her actions behind the wheel suggested to troopers at the scene that she could have been too intoxicated to drive.
Dionne herself questioned the validity of the charges while laying in the hospital bed.
“How is that an OUI then?” she asked.
Somerville District Court Judge Maurice R. Flynn, asked the same questions, saying, “That’s well below the legal limit.”
Sabbag said given her statement to troopers, as well as her “erratic operation,” according to the police report, prosecutors are seeking the drunken-driving charges.
Her defense lawyer, David Haynes, argued against bail and asked for personal recognizance, noting that Dionne has no criminal record, has a full-time job as a UPS package handler, and has lived in Lawrence nearly her entire life.
Flynn set bail at $2,500 cash and ordered that Dionne not drive, and avoid drugs and alcohol for the duration of the case.
State troopers at the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Route 495 Southbound in Andover about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday were assisting as tow truck drivers cleared the damaged vehicles. As Coady was standing next to the left side of his truck in the breakdown lane, loading one of the vehicles onto his flatbed, Dionne’s 2007 Pontiac G6 struck a BMW located in the breakdown lane before striking the left side of the tow truck and Coady.
Coady was unconscious and had no pulse when troopers rushed to his aid. He was taken to Saints Memorial Hospital in Lowell, where he was pronounced dead.
Dionne was initially taken to Lowell General Hospital, but due to the seriousness of her injuries, she was transferred to Tufts Medical Center.