Mattapan man held in fatal hit and run
Suspect pleads not guilty to charges in Hyde Park crash that killed 4-year-old
A Mattapan man was driving home with his 3year-old when he allegedly ran over a 4-year-old boy in Hyde Park last month, speeding away after the deadly collision and later selling the dented car to its previous owner, according to court records.
A day after he turned himself in to police, Olguens Joseph, 30, was arraigned Tuesday in West Roxbury Municipal Court in connection with the July 18 hit-and-run crash, which fatally injured Ivan Pierre near his Wood Avenue home.
Joseph pleaded not guilty to charges of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, leaving the scene of personal injury and death, and driving an unregistered/uninsured motor vehicle, and was ordered held on $15,000 cash bail.
According to a police report filed in court, one witness told police the car ran over the boy and then “sped up.” Another witness, who was driving behind Joseph at the time of the crash, said Joseph’s car “went over the victim, stopped, and continued going fast” toward Cummins Highway.
Video footage and other evidence identified the car as a gray Chevrolet Spark sedan and authorities released images of the car in hopes someone would recognize it. On July 25, a tipster called police and said the vehicle was possibly parked at an apartment on Hazelton Street in Mattapan, according to the report.
Police went to the home the next day and although a woman told them Joseph was at work, he later emerged from a back bedroom, the report said. Joseph, who speaks Haitain Creole, was interviewed by detectives, one of whom translated.
Joseph told police he had bought the Chevrolet in Cambridge but returned it because it was “too small for his family,” the report said.
Joseph returned the car on July 21 and swapped it for an Acura, the report said. When he returned the car, a witness told police it had a dent on its hood that wasn’t there when Joseph bought it.
On the night of the crash, which happened around 9:30 p.m., Joseph said he was driving with his son down Wood Avenue. He said he didn’t know what time it was but that it was dark out, and told police he was not involved in an accident.
The man who sold Joseph the Chevrolet in June later told police Joseph had met with him a short time before the crash at a barber shop on River Street to pay him the remaining $1,000 balance on the car. Joseph had his child in the front seat, and the man told him that wasn’t allowed, according to the police report.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after Tuesday’s hearing, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden said the case has been difficult for investigators. The arraignment was “an important step towards the road to justice for young Ivan. We continue to keep his family in our thoughts and our prayers, and we ask that the community continued to do the same,” he said.
He thanked the public for their help in identifying Joseph as the suspect.
“We are brought here today in large part, if not entirely, because people in the community spoke up and provided information to the police that was tremendously helpful to the investigation,” he said.
“More than one” tipster provided information to police, he said.
Ivan’s relatives attended the hearing, Hayden said.
“They are obviously heartbroken and solemn, and I think at times even have difficulty in expressing how they’re feeling,” he said. “That’s understandable. That’s natural. We will just continue to love and support them.”
In court, prosecutors requested $15,000 bail, asserting Joseph took steps to conceal his identity and avoid arrest. His lawyer, Winston Kendall, argued the bail was too high and that Joseph could not post it because he has no savings. Kendall also noted that Joseph surrendered to authorities.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 30.
After the crash, Ivan’s uncle, Heroldy Limage, said the family had been gathered on the porch looking at Ivan’s mother’s new car. Ivan walked away, unbeknownst to the family, and was hit shortly after.
“I think that’s when my nephew snuck out,” Limage said. “Nobody really saw what he did. And next thing, there was an impact everyone heard outside.”
Limage said his nephew was always joyful.
“You walk through the doors and he’s jumping and laughing,” he said.
The child was born in Boston in September 2018, according to an obituary. He is survived by his parents, Ruthchelle Limage and Vladmir Pierre; sisters Nitchrhode and Avaleenah; and many other relatives in the United States and Haiti, the notice said.