BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A man charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash in Brockton that claimed the life of a 72-year-old woman earlier this week has been ordered held without bail.
Michael Blanche, 33, of Brockton, was arraigned Friday in Brockton District Court on charges including leaving the scene of a crash causing death, negligent motor vehicle homicide, speeding, failure to yield, and operating a motor vehicle after suspension, according to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.
Officers responding to a report of a crash involving a pedestrian in the area of 259 Pleasant St. around 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday found Marie Rose Bienaime, of Brockton, unresponsive in the street, police said.
Bienaime, a mother to 11 children, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“He knew what he hit, he saw the woman, she hit his windshield, and he left the scene,” Cruz told reporters after the arraignment.
Blanche’s girlfriend, Cassandra Hilts, told 7NEWS that her boyfriend “feels horrible” and is “torn up.”
After the crash, Blanche drove to Hilts’ house, told her that he might have killed a pedestrian, and then went out to dinner with her, court documents indicate.
Blanche was identified as the driver after investigators found the vehicle he was driving hidden under a tarp in the yard next to his girlfriend’s home, according to Cruz.
Blanche was taken into custody after officers reportedly found him in Hilts’ basement.
He is due back in court at a later date for a dangerousness hearing.
An investigation remains ongoing.
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