DA: Teen allegedly high on marijuana charged in Natick hit-and-run

A 17-year-old boy who fled after allegedly mowing down two pedestrians in an Aug. 18 Natick crash was driving high on marijuana, authorities said.

The teenager, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was reportedly operating a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on Washington Avenue in the area of Summer Street shortly before 6:30 p.m. when he struck a Natick couple on the sidewalk and fled the scene, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Natick Police Chief James Hicks said in a joint statement Tuesday.

One of the victims, Brian Colbert, 39, has been discharged from the hospital and continues his painful recovery from home, but his wife, Kim Gunner, 51, is still in the intensive care unit after seven surgeries at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, with more surgeries to come, said her cousin, Tony Catlin. Her jaw had to be reconstructed, her arm was shattered and doctors are reconstructing her leg, he said.

“She’s got a long, long road to recovery, but she’s a fighter, and we’re very happy with the arrest,” Catlin said. “The fact that the wheels of justice are turning in the right direction brings a sense of relief to the family.”

Gunner and her husband were out for their routine evening stroll when the pickup truck jumped the curb and ran them over, driving them into a wooden fence, authorities said.

A piece of wood from the fence impaled Gunner through the chest, and the driver backed over her, crushing both of her legs.

Police located the suspect vehicle at a Holliston home and later determined that the teen was the operator of the vehicle, with two juvenile passengers at the time of the crash, Ryan and Hicks said. The subsequent investigation revealed that the driver was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash, they said.

He will be arraigned on Sept. 10 on charges of leaving the scene of personal injury, leaving the scene of property damage, two counts of operating under the influence of drugs causing serious bodily injury, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and failure to stop. Juvenile proceedings are closed to the public.

An immediate threat also has been filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Catlin called the hit-and-run “an inhumane and evil tragedy” but thanked the investigators, the witnesses who helped them and everyone who has donated to a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $120,000 toward the victims’ recoveries.

The investigation is being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Natick Police and the Massachusetts State Police Crash Analysis and Reconstruction Section. Officers from Sherborn and Holliston police departments as well as numerous members of the public who came forward also assisted in the investigation.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2YZeeGS