Driver with 4 DUIs crashes, sends 4 to hospital
Toolbox
By David Delcore Times Argus Staff - Published: November 25, 2008
BARRE – A Williamstown man with a lengthy record of driving under the influence and without a license was allegedly caught doing both following a Sunday evening accident on South Main Street.
Less than 24 hours after the head-on collision that sent four others – three of them children – to the hospital, Eric Russell, 31, pleaded innocent to his fourth DUI, as well as a related charge of grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle with serious injury resulting.
Both charges are felonies for which Russell, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, fined up to $5,000 and $15,000 respectively, or both.
Police said Russell's blood alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit when the accident occurred.
Monday's arraignment occurred even as the driver of the other car, William Peterson, 40, of Barre, was recovering from what Kelly described as the first in what will likely be a series of surgeries on his leg.
"That left leg was just decimated," he said, explaining the femur was shattered and the knee, shin, heel and two toes were all broken.
Peterson, who also suffered a fractured sternum and a head injury in the accident, was initially transported to Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin and later transferred to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington.
Three children traveling in Peterson's car – 13-year-old twins Ty and Logan Avery and Shyla Peterson, 7 – were also taken to the hospital with assorted injuries. According to Kelly, it took 12 staples to close a head laceration suffered by Ty Avery, while his brother suffered a back injury and foot sprain. The younger Peterson escaped with bumps and bruises.
Court records indicate Russell, whose blood alcohol content was .259 – more than three times the legal limit – nearly an hour after the accident, may have suffered a mild concussion.
Washington County States Attorney Tom Kelly said Russell, who lost his license for life following his third DUI conviction five years ago, will likely be charged with driving while under suspension for a seventh time.
Citing Russell's lengthy record, the likelihood he is looking at serious jail time if convicted and the severity of the injuries sustained by occupants of the northbound car he allegedly plowed into shortly before 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Kelly asked Judge Brian Grearson to consider setting cash bail in the case.
"He (Russell) has not followed the rules of either the court … or the (state) Department of Motor Vehicles," Kelly said, grudgingly conceding Russell's "strong ties to the community."
Jeffrey Wilson, Russell's court-appointed lawyer, urged Grearson to take those ties into consideration when deciding whether to impose cash bail. He argued that Russell, a self-employed carpenter, could not afford to post bail and pay his bills.
"Money is extremely tight," he said, noting that Russell has never run from any of his earlier offenses.
"I would argue he (Russell) has no where else to go," Wilson said.
Grearson acknowledged as much.
"You're still here," he told Russell. "We continue to be plagued with you allegedly driving without a license."
Grearson opted not to set bail – choosing instead to release Russell on a host of conditions, including one that will require him to report daily to the Barre Police Department and another that imposes a 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. Grearson ordered Russell not to drive or drink and instructed him to immediately enroll in substance abuse counseling.
Police, who were summoned to the scene of the accident in front of Lazer Wash on South Main Street at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, said when they arrived they found Russell's gray Ford Ranger pickup truck and Peterson's black Volkswagen Gulf locked together.
According to police, Russell who was heading south at the time, apparently swerved into the northbound lane slamming into Peterson's oncoming car.
Although both vehicles sustained extensive front-end damage, Kelly said Peterson's car and its occupants clearly got the worst of the exchange.
"His (Peterson's) car was no match for Mr. Russell's truck," Kelly said.
Russell, a 1996 graduate of Spaulding High School, was fined $200 when he was first convicted of DUI in 1998. Following his second DUI conviction in 2000 he served 10 days in jail as part of a suspended sentence of six months to two years. Russell was sentenced to one to five years following his third DUI conviction – a felony – in 2003.
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