Police: Driver in fatal crash had taken drugs
Toolbox
By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: August 26, 2009
BURLINGTON – A Burlington man whose car fatally struck a motorcyclist from Barre more than two months ago had a cocktail of prescription drugs in his system and may have fallen asleep just before his car crossed the center line, according to court documents made public on Tuesday.
The driver of the car, 55-year-old David Punia, pleaded innocent Tuesday to a charge of gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle with a fatality resulting. He was released on conditions after a brief arraignment hearing in Vermont District Court in Burlington.
The June 8 collision in Bolton killed Mark Towle, a 47-year-old Barre resident who was driving his motorcycle west on Route 2.
Police responded to the nearly head-on crash at 8:39 a.m. and found Towle lying on his back on a grass embankment about 50 feet from his motorcycle. Towle was semi-conscious and was being aided by rescue workers, police said. After he was taken to Fletcher Allen Health Care, Towle was pronounced dead, and an autopsy revealed that he died of "blunt impacts of torso," court records show.
At the crash site, Punia told police he drifted from the right lane to the left lane, which a police investigation confirmed, according to court papers. Asked why that might have happened, Punia said: "I'm on a new medication that may have, I think was making me drowsy," the police affidavit says. Punia said the new medication was Klonopin, a drug used to control seizures and also prescribed for panic disorders.
Punia gave police a container with pills that were later identified as Adderall and Klonopin. A witness, who helped Punia from his vehicle, said Punia told him he may have fallen asleep just before the crash.
"I don't know what happened but I think I may have nodded off and crossed the line," the witness recounted Punia as saying.
Soon after the crash, police processed Punia for driving under the influence of drugs, and a subsequent analysis of Punia's blood showed he had four prescription drugs in his system: Adderall, Buproprion, 7-aminclonazepam and Citalopram, according to police.
But prosecutors have not accused Punia of driving under the influence of drugs, a charge that has become more common in the state as more police are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of drug use.
Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Paul Finnerty in charge of the case. Asked why he didn't file the DUI charge, he would only say that the evidence supported the gross negligent operation charge, while also noting the penalties for the two charges are the same.
"I reviewed the evidence in the case and I made a decision to charge the offense that the evidence supports, and the penalty is identical," said Finnerty.
Both crimes carry a potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Judge Ben Joseph, who presided over the arraignment hearing, noted there was no evidence in the affidavit that says whether Punia had a prescription for the drugs he had taken, but Punia's attorney said the drugs were prescribed to his client, at least some of them for anxiety.
Punia's attorney Paul Jarvis objected to a condition of release the state requested that would prevent Punia from driving a car while his case is pending.
Joseph sided with the state and imposed the no-driving condition after noting the seriousness of the accident in which Punia "crossed the center line…and somebody's dead."
Joseph said the two sides could argue the merits of the condition at a later hearing once more medical information about the prescription drugs and their effects is gathered.
Outside the courtroom, Punia said the crash occurred as he was driving to work in Waterbury at the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living. He referred other questions to his attorney, who declined to comment.
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