Over the weekend, an 18-year-old high school student hit and killed a pedestrian as he drove home from a school-sponsored harbor cruise in Boston following his senior prom. Jonathan Caruso allegedly drove off Essex Road, hit a road sign, a telephone pole, a bush, and two women who were out walking their dog. Carol Marean, 67, was pronounced dead at the scene of the car accident, while her daughter, Charlotte Marean, 41, was seriously injured.
According to witnesses, the three teenagers involved in the car crash (none of whom were injured) tried to flee the accident until a neighbor threatened to turn them in. They waited for police to arrive, and Caruso was arrested after failing a sobriety test and reportedly telling his friends he’d had 10 beers. School officials said that all students were given breath tests and had their bags checked before the prom and before the cruise.
A judge ordered Caruso held on $7,500 cash bail, and the student was charged with negligent motor-vehicle homicide, transporting alcohol as a minor, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Today he pleaded appeared in Lynn District Court and pleaded not guilty.
Saugus teen arraigned in post-prom crash death, Boston Globe, May 18, 2009
Contact a Massachusetts wrongful death attorney if you have lost a family member in a car, truck, or bus accident.