Thursday, 4:30 PM
Young survivor of Blue Hill Avenue crash says, 'The scary man followed us’'
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)
By John R. Ellement, George Rizer, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
The 10-year-old girl who survived this morning’s fatal crash in Dorchester told police that a man in a white sport utility vehicle chased them on Blue Hill Avenue, ramming their car with his bumper, a prosecutor said this afternoon in Dorchester Municipal Court.
"The scary man followed us," the girl said, according to John E. Powers III, an assistant Suffolk district attorney.
Speeding north away from the SUV at about 2:40 a.m., the light-colored sedan carrying a 26-year old woman, a teenager, and two children swerved to avoid traffic. The car hit the curb on the right side of the street, skidded sideways, knocked over a light pole, and wrapped around a tree in the median on what is also known as Route 28. A police officer who had been following the pursuit said sparks flew from the sedan before it went airborne, Powers said.
The crash killed the front passenger, an 18-year-old identified by her mother as Porsche Hubbard. An 8-month-old girl was thrown from the car while still strapped in a baby seat. The baby was rushed to Children Hospital, where she is in stable condition, Powers said.
A 10-year-old girl suffered a broken ankle in the crash, while the 26-year-old woman driving the car is in a drug-induced coma and hasn’t been questioned by police, Powers said.
Police identified the driver of the SUV as Jason Bailey, 28, and charged him with motor vehicle homicide, drunken driving, four counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and other charges. Bailey pleaded not guilty at his arraignment this afternoon.
His lawyer, John Hayes, disputed the prosecution's account. Hayes said that the SUV his client allegedly used to ram the victims' car was in "pristine" condition and showed no evidence that it had hit any other vehicles. He questioned whether the prosecution had enough evidence to charge Bailey with the crimes and asked the judge to drop the charges, a request that was denied.
Bailey was ordered held $100,000 cash bail and will return to court Sept. 13 for a probable cause hearing.
It is not clear what, if any, relationship existed between Bailey and the passengers in the sedan. Bailey has a long history of domestic violence and has been the target of at least three restraining orders, court records show.
Police said the chase may have started at a gas station on Blue Hill Avenue, where Bailey got in an argument with the 26-year-old driver.
"The scary man in the white van was yelling at us," the 10-year-old girl told police, according to Powers.
Initially the chase proceeded south on Blue Hill Avenue, until the fleeing sedan took a U-turn at Morton Street and headed north, police said. The SUV continued its pursuit for another eight blocks until the sedan crashed.
The wreck closed a 12-block stretch of Blue Hill Avenue for several hours while dozens of police officers investigated. The road reopened to traffic at about 9 a.m.
Hubbard worked at Professional Image, a hair salon owned by her mother about five blocks from the site of the crash. Coworkers, friends, and family described her as a selfless, energetic, and hardworking young woman who grew up splitting time between Boston and Chicago, where her father lives.
"It's just unbelievable that her life was cut so short," said Julian Morse, a friend and coworker. "She had so much to give. I'm kind of in disbelief."
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