PROVIDENCE, RI -- A 23-year-old Glocester woman pleaded not-guilty Friday to charges that she was driving under the influence of alcohol while possessing marijuana and that she fled the scene after her car hit two people, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries.
The accident occurred around midnight on Feb. 20 on Main Street, in East Greenwich.
Amanda Ashman was arraigned before Kent County Superior Court Judge Walter R. Stone who released her in her own recognizance pending a pretrial conference Sept. 10. As a condition of her release, the judge ordered her not to drive. No official action has been taken against her license yet, said Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Peter F. Kilmartin, because Ashman agreed to submit to a chemical breath test upon her arrest.
In court Friday, Ashman, of 37 Pound Rd., pleaded not-guilty in court Friday to two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injury, two counts of driving to endanger resulting in personal injury, one count of driving under the influence, causing serious bodily injury, driving under the influence first offense, driving while possessing a controlled substance -- marijuana, and possession of marijuana, first offense.
Ashman allegedly struck both victims while they were crossing the street. One of the victims, Gene Hemingway, 49, of 21 Division St., Apt. 4, East Greenwich, suffered life-threatening injuries, including head trauma, said Kempe. The other victim, Patricia Daniels, 44, of 2 Pearl Street, East Greenwich, was also injured but her injuries "were much less severe," Kempe said. She said HIPPA regulations prevented her from disclosing more detailed information about their injuries.
The state police, who handled the case, said at the time of the accident Ashman's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit of .08 when the vehicle she was driving hit Hemingway and Daniels.
A motorist who witnessed the accident called 911 and gave chase to Ashman, following her onto Route 295 north. The state police arrested her on Route 44 west in Smithfield.