MIDDLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A 21-year-old woman charged in connection with a fatal crash in Middleboro on Tuesday night had a blood-alcohol level that was more than twice the legal limit, according to law enforcement officials.
Tianna Hutchinson, of Taunton, was arraigned Wednesday in Wareham District Court on charges including motor vehicle homicide, operating under the influence of liquor, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
Officers responding to several 911 calls reporting a crash on Wareham Street near the South Middleboro fire station around 11:20 p.m. found a white 2010 Chrysler 300 and a white 2015 Hyundai Sonata mangled in the middle of the road, police said.
First responders treated the driver of the Sonata, a 48-year-old woman, at the scene before she was transported to Tobey Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, police added. Her name has not been released.
A preliminary investigation determined the cars collided head-on on the wet roadway.
The driver of the Chrysler, identified as Hutchinson, was placed under arrest without incident, police said.
Hutchinson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.20, which is more than twice the legal limit, according to court documents.
Hutchinson admitted to consuming several drinks and told officers that she “didn’t have any shots but was drinking gin,” the documents indicated. During a recorded call to her boyfriend, she also allegedly said, “Your car is gone and she is dead.”
Neighborhood resident Jessica Palkens, who rushed to assist the victim, says Hutchinson came to her front door following the crash.
“I gave her some paper towels. She was bleeding. She was just very frantic,” Palkens recalled. “My fiancée smelled the alcohol on her breath.”
A judge released Hutchinson on a number of conditions that require her to remain home at all times with the exception of going to work and refrain from driving. She must also wear a GPS and alcohol-monitoring device.
She is due back in court in February.
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