MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
I am so tired of stories like this..lock them up and get them off the roads permanently. I can't understand why drunk driving seems to STILL be an acceptable crime in 2005
Infant clings to life after crash tied to repeat offender
Driver is called 'worst nightmare'
By Raja Mishra and John Ellement, Globe Staff | July 26, 2005
QUINCY -- Lawrence J. Robertson had been arrested at least four times for driving while high or drunk. Due to four consecutive license revocations, he has not been legally allowed to drive in Massachusetts since 1983, state officials said.
Yet Quincy police say the 43-year-old Braintree man was behind the wheel Sunday afternoon, stoned on drugs, when he ran a red light and plowed into a sport utility vehicle driven by a pregnant 24-year-old woman, leaving her infant girl, born hours after the bloody crash, clinging to life at a Boston hospital.
With pregnant Katelyn Melia trapped in her overturned SUV, Robertson appeared to pretend he was an innocent bystander at the scene until police determined he was the driver, witnesses said.
The state's registrar of motor vehicles called Robertson ''our worst nightmare": a long-term substance abuser willing to drive without a license. Robertson's case is likely to intensify debate over Melanie's bill, legislation proposed in May that would mandate jail time for such repeat offenders.
''He's the guy that, short of following him around, you can't catch," said Registrar Kimberly Hinden. ''They'll just keep doing it over and over again. Our laws need to be changed. . . . He should have been put in jail."
Robertson's girlfriend, Linda Manna, told police she allowed him to use her car, despite knowing his license had been revoked.
Robertson's car knocked Melia's SUV on its side, sending it skidding into a utility pole. She was 21 hours from the scheduled delivery of her baby. Her 2-year-old son, Ryan Doyle, also in the car, was rescued uninjured. Melia, from Quincy, was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where her daughter was delivered by caesarean section.
Yesterday, Melia was in fair condition, while her daughter remained in critical condition in the neonatal intensive care unit.
''The story line here is the creep: They can do it to you, they can do it to anyone, any time," said a man at Melia's home who identified himself as a close relative. ''Go to the hospital and ask how many times a week does this kind of thing happen. It's sick."
Robertson was arraigned yesterday on two counts of causing serious bodily harm while operating under the influence of drugs, as well as single counts of operating under the influence of drugs, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender, marijuana possession, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and failure to stop at a red light. He is being held on $50,000 bail and is due back in Quincy District Court on Aug. 23. His lawyer refused to comment yesterday.
State records detail Robertson's troubled driving history. He was found guilty of drunken driving four times: in Quincy (1982), in Belmont (1985), in Braintree (1993), and in Abington (1999). Authorities said Robertson had a fifth previous driving violation involving drugs or alcohol, though the violation was not listed in documents provided by the Registry.
In addition, he was caught driving without a license, valid license plates, or insurance four times, according to state records.
On Oct. 2, 2003, the state declared Robertson a habitual traffic offender after a Holbrook incident in which Robertson was caught driving with someone else's plates on his car, adding to his lengthy list of violations. Under the declaration, Robertson would not be eligible to drive until 2007.
Despite these repeated punishments, state officials and activists anguished over a system that failed to keep this troubled driver off the road.
Hinden urged passage of Melanie's bill, named for 13-year-old Melanie Powell of Marshfield who was killed by a repeat drunk driver in 2003. The bill would mandate three months in jail and a three-year license suspension for those caught driving under the influence with a suspended license. Currently, these offenders get 60 additional days of license suspension.
''Guys like Robertson just don't get the message," Hinden said.
The events unfolded at the corner of Copeland and Common streets in Quincy around 1:50 p.m. Sunday. Judith A. McEntire was working behind the counter at the nearby Sly Fox bar, when she heard a loud noise.
McEntire ran outside to help, noticing Melia was pregnant and bleeding heavily. She told a person at the scene, who replied, ''Wow! She's pregnant?" The person was Robertson.
''He was like another passerby," McEntire said.
Even as emergency personnel worked to save the passengers, ''Robertson stood by across the street asking questions as though he was not involved in the accident," according to a Quincy police report.
Robertson eventually identified himself as the driver when questioned by police at the scene.
Robertson told police the 2002 Ford SUV he drove belonged to his girlfriend. Robertson was evasive and could not describe where he was driving or how he ended up colliding with Melia's vehicle, police said. They described him as being ''unsteady on his feet," as having ''bloodshot eyes," and appearing to be ''very nervous."
Police searched Robertson's vehicle, finding a prescription pill bottle with Manna's name on it, but Robertson denied having ingested any of the pills.
Manna later told police that Robertson has been living with her in Braintree for about three months and that Robertson was a drug addict whose ''narcotic of choice" was OxyContin.
She said she let him use her car to go to the store Sunday because he told her he was ill. She thought he was sick with narcotic withdrawal symptoms rather than high when he drove off, according to the police report.
No charges have been filed against Manna.
Infant clings to life after crash tied to repeat offender
Driver is called 'worst nightmare'
By Raja Mishra and John Ellement, Globe Staff | July 26, 2005
QUINCY -- Lawrence J. Robertson had been arrested at least four times for driving while high or drunk. Due to four consecutive license revocations, he has not been legally allowed to drive in Massachusetts since 1983, state officials said.
Yet Quincy police say the 43-year-old Braintree man was behind the wheel Sunday afternoon, stoned on drugs, when he ran a red light and plowed into a sport utility vehicle driven by a pregnant 24-year-old woman, leaving her infant girl, born hours after the bloody crash, clinging to life at a Boston hospital.
With pregnant Katelyn Melia trapped in her overturned SUV, Robertson appeared to pretend he was an innocent bystander at the scene until police determined he was the driver, witnesses said.
The state's registrar of motor vehicles called Robertson ''our worst nightmare": a long-term substance abuser willing to drive without a license. Robertson's case is likely to intensify debate over Melanie's bill, legislation proposed in May that would mandate jail time for such repeat offenders.
''He's the guy that, short of following him around, you can't catch," said Registrar Kimberly Hinden. ''They'll just keep doing it over and over again. Our laws need to be changed. . . . He should have been put in jail."
Robertson's girlfriend, Linda Manna, told police she allowed him to use her car, despite knowing his license had been revoked.
Robertson's car knocked Melia's SUV on its side, sending it skidding into a utility pole. She was 21 hours from the scheduled delivery of her baby. Her 2-year-old son, Ryan Doyle, also in the car, was rescued uninjured. Melia, from Quincy, was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where her daughter was delivered by caesarean section.
Yesterday, Melia was in fair condition, while her daughter remained in critical condition in the neonatal intensive care unit.
''The story line here is the creep: They can do it to you, they can do it to anyone, any time," said a man at Melia's home who identified himself as a close relative. ''Go to the hospital and ask how many times a week does this kind of thing happen. It's sick."
Robertson was arraigned yesterday on two counts of causing serious bodily harm while operating under the influence of drugs, as well as single counts of operating under the influence of drugs, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender, marijuana possession, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and failure to stop at a red light. He is being held on $50,000 bail and is due back in Quincy District Court on Aug. 23. His lawyer refused to comment yesterday.
State records detail Robertson's troubled driving history. He was found guilty of drunken driving four times: in Quincy (1982), in Belmont (1985), in Braintree (1993), and in Abington (1999). Authorities said Robertson had a fifth previous driving violation involving drugs or alcohol, though the violation was not listed in documents provided by the Registry.
In addition, he was caught driving without a license, valid license plates, or insurance four times, according to state records.
On Oct. 2, 2003, the state declared Robertson a habitual traffic offender after a Holbrook incident in which Robertson was caught driving with someone else's plates on his car, adding to his lengthy list of violations. Under the declaration, Robertson would not be eligible to drive until 2007.
Despite these repeated punishments, state officials and activists anguished over a system that failed to keep this troubled driver off the road.
Hinden urged passage of Melanie's bill, named for 13-year-old Melanie Powell of Marshfield who was killed by a repeat drunk driver in 2003. The bill would mandate three months in jail and a three-year license suspension for those caught driving under the influence with a suspended license. Currently, these offenders get 60 additional days of license suspension.
''Guys like Robertson just don't get the message," Hinden said.
The events unfolded at the corner of Copeland and Common streets in Quincy around 1:50 p.m. Sunday. Judith A. McEntire was working behind the counter at the nearby Sly Fox bar, when she heard a loud noise.
McEntire ran outside to help, noticing Melia was pregnant and bleeding heavily. She told a person at the scene, who replied, ''Wow! She's pregnant?" The person was Robertson.
''He was like another passerby," McEntire said.
Even as emergency personnel worked to save the passengers, ''Robertson stood by across the street asking questions as though he was not involved in the accident," according to a Quincy police report.
Robertson eventually identified himself as the driver when questioned by police at the scene.
Robertson told police the 2002 Ford SUV he drove belonged to his girlfriend. Robertson was evasive and could not describe where he was driving or how he ended up colliding with Melia's vehicle, police said. They described him as being ''unsteady on his feet," as having ''bloodshot eyes," and appearing to be ''very nervous."
Police searched Robertson's vehicle, finding a prescription pill bottle with Manna's name on it, but Robertson denied having ingested any of the pills.
Manna later told police that Robertson has been living with her in Braintree for about three months and that Robertson was a drug addict whose ''narcotic of choice" was OxyContin.
She said she let him use her car to go to the store Sunday because he told her he was ill. She thought he was sick with narcotic withdrawal symptoms rather than high when he drove off, according to the police report.
No charges have been filed against Manna.
