Woman fined $1,000 in fatal hit-and-run

BANGOR – A Glenburn couple pleaded guilty Thursday to leaving the scene of a fatal accident that took the life a 15-year-old boy who was in-line skating on the AA Landing Road in Glenburn on June 1, 2000.

Outside the courthouse the family of Andrew Butler expressed outrage at the sentence handed down to 55-year-old Patricia Foley by Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm, saying that people who killed animals received far greater sentences.

Foley, who told police she was driving the vehicle that killed Butler, received a $1,000 fine and may lose her license for 30 days, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts.

Carrying a framed picture of his son, Harold Nylund of Bangor said, “This isn’t justice. To hit a child and leave him dying on the side of the road and get a $1,000 fine is not justice.”

Foley’s husband, Richard Foley, also of Glenburn, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, but his sentencing is scheduled for a later date.

Roberts said the state will ask for a 364-day suspended jail sentence for Richard Foley and a license suspension for a year and a year of probation.

Roberts said his office had little leeway in deciding with what to charge the Foleys. Two months after the accident the Legislature changed the statute concerning leaving the scene of a fatal or serious-injury accident to allow prosecutors to charge someone with a felony in some instances. Because this case occurred before the law changed, it was not affected, he said. Instead the Foleys were charged with a Class D misdemeanor.

Roberts said there was no evidence that the Foleys were responsible for the accident. They told police that she rounded a corner to find Butler skating in the middle of the road and that she could not avoid hitting him.

She said her husband then got behind the wheel and drove away.

“We couldn’t establish any criminal responsibility for the accident itself,” said Roberts, noting that there also was evidence that the car’s brakes failed at the time of the accident.

“The aggravating circumstance behind the brake failure was that Mr. Foley had himself inspected the vehicle and said that it was roadworthy, when our own inspection showed that it clearly was not,” said Roberts.

Roberts said there may have been evidence to suggest that Richard Foley was operating the vehicle at the time of the accident, though Patricia Foley took responsibility.

The prosecutor also said there was some evidence that Richard Foley had been drinking prior to the accident, but he never underwent a blood-alcohol test because police did not get to him until after the accident and were under the belief that Patricia Foley was driving.

After the couple left the scene they drove three-tenths of a mile up the road and stopped at a woman’s home to call the police. Patricia Foley went back to the scene, while Richard Foley remained at the house, Roberts said.

Roberts said speed was not an issue in the case and that the accident actually occurred at a fairly low rate of speed.

Responding to the family’s criticism, Roberts said he did what he thought he could do based on the amount of proof and evidence available and the law governing the facts.