Bridgewater Woman Charged With Drunk Driving After Route 24 Crash
STOUGHTON (CBS/AP) -- A Bridgewater woman was being held on $100,000 bail after pleading not guilty on Monday to charges in connection with a fatal car crash.
Patricia Neville-Colp, 48, was arraigned in Stoughton District Court on drunken driving and motor vehicle homicide charges.
Police said Neville-Colp's Jeep Cherokee side-swiped a Kia Sportage just after 11 p.m. on Saturday on Route 24 south. A passenger in the Kia, 57-year-old Maureen O'Brien Ellis of Easton, was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Kia, her brother-in-law was slightly injured.
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields reports
"My wounds will heal, but Maureen's never will," said Steve Cadoff.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports.
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A responding trooper said Neville-Colp tried to drive away after the accident.
Police say Neville Colp had been drinking at the Randolph VFW hall, then left, and got into the accident on route 24 southbound.
Police on the scene reported that when they asked her where she'd been, she said "I just got off work."
But police responded, "You're a hairdresser, and you just got off work at 11:00?"
Neville Colp then admitted to having several beers.
Prosecutors said her blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit. Police also found a half-smoked marijuana "joint" on the floor of her car.
Neville Colp's attorney pleaded with the court to release her. Attorney Larry Tipton said she was a single mother, working two jobs, and trying to care for her ten-year old, and an aging father.
He also argued that Neville-Colp failed field sobriety tests because she was knocked around in the accident.
Neville-Colp's lawyer said in court that she had lived "a rather unremarkable life with no criminal involvement whatsoever."
Neville Colp has never been arrested, but has been involved in five traffic accidents, from 1999 through 2008.
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields contributed to this report
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