Two 17 year old boys were arrested in Glastonbury, CT for letting their friend drive home drunk. Jane Modlesky, also 17, died last July in a drunk driving accident when she ran off the road and struck a tree. The three teenagers were riding home together early in the morning.
Agent James Kennedy of the Glastonbury Police Department told NBC Connecticut that the boys knew she was too drunk to drive and should not have been allowed behind the wheel. The autopsy showed the Glastonbury High School student’s blood alcohol level to be 0.27, 13 times the legal limit.
One of the two boys was driving originally and after dropping off the other boy, drove to his home and let Modlesky drive home alone. She only made it half a mile before her fatal accident.
One of the boys is charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, violation of passenger restrictions and operating a motor vehicle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The other young man is charged with violation of passenger restrictions and operating a motor vehicle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Both misdemeanors are expected to be heard in court later this month.
The community is very shaken by this resurgence of attention surrounding the tragic accident they are still morning. Fellow students, some of whom would have been senior classmates of Modlesky this year, have said that the ordeal makes them keenly aware of what consequences are for driving drunk. And what can happen if they let someone else do the same.
Glastonbury senior, Austin Mccallum, said many students are “rethinking teenagers being stupid – let’s go out drinking and whatnot – they’re really saying, you know, this could happen to anyone now.”
There are some who believe the charges are a bit of a stretch. California attorney and author of the law book “Drunk Driving Defense, Lawrence Taylor responded to the pending case:
“It’s basically saying that they had a positive duty to stop her. But you cannot be prosecuted because you didn’t stop someone from engaging in criminal conduct: If someone is holding a gun and is about to shoot it, and you don’t pull it out of their hand, you cannot be held accountable. So I think the police are kind of overreaching here.”
This is the second time that charges have been filed in conjuction with this case. Another girl was charged in August for serving alcohol to minors after having the party that led to the crash.