2 teens face criminal charges, accused of allowing a drunken friend to drive
Two unidentified Connecticut teenagers have been criminally charged, accused of allowing a 17-year-old Glastonbury High School student they knew to be “highly intoxicated” to operate a sport-utility vehicle.
Soon after Jane Modlesky took the wheel of the 2008 Honda Pilot in the early hours of July 14, the star lacrosse player crashed it into a tree and died. Her blood-alcohol level was .27, more than three times the .08 limit for adults and 13 times the .02 limit for those under 21, according to NBC News and WFSB.
At issue in the case is how a group of teens got home from a party at which alcohol was served. Three 16-year-old boys, another male teen whose age is given as either 16 or 17 and Modlesky got into the Pilot, which an earlier Hartford Courant article says belonged to the parents of a girl hosting the party.
One of the 16-year-olds drove, dropping off another 16-year-old before stopping and getting out at his own home, authorities said. Then another 16-year-old boy got behind the wheel and drove to his home, getting out there with the remaining passenger, who was either 16 or 17, and allowing Modlesky to drive off.
The second 16-year-old driver and the remaining male passenger who exited the vehicle with him were charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, and the driver was additionally charged with violation of passenger restrictions for teenage drivers and operating a motor vehicle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The first 16-year-old driver was charged with violation of passenger restrictions and operating a motor vehicle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The state’s passenger restrictions for teen drivers (a Department of Motor Vehicles explains the restrictions that apply to teen drivers and another Department of Motor Vehicles Web page explains the drunken-driving laws
A 17-year-old girl was charged in August by Glastonbury police with permitting minors to possess alcohol concerning a house party held several hours prior to Modlesky’s fatal accident, another NBC News article reports. No adults were home at the time of the party.
Hat tip: New York Daily News.
