Accused in crash collapses

Michelle Sullivan, who faces up to 15 years in prison, cried out, "I can't do it, I can't do it," as she struggled to walk the 20 yards between Ipswich District Court and the adjacent police station and as family members held each other and wept.

As his niece was being led away, Robert Sullivan, 47, of Medford, was involved in an altercation with two members of a television news crew. He was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and battery. No one was injured.

The tiny courtroom was packed with Sullivan's family and friends, who listened as the preschool teacher was charged with motor vehicle homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol, and operating negligently. Prosecutors allege that at 11:34 p.m. on Nov. 5, Sullivan was drunk, talking on her cellphone, and driving 66 miles an hour in a 35-mile-an-hour zone when she lost control of her 1998 Honda on a dark, wet Ipswich road.

The rear of Sullivan's sedan slammed into a telephone pole with such force that it sheared the pole in half and killed 17-year-old Lisa Sparaco, who was riding in the back seat.

When police arrived at the scene Sullivan was wild-eyed, panicked, and smelled of alcohol, Essex Assistant District Attorney John Brennan said in court yesterday. Brennan said Sullivan told police she was at a party and had given $10 to 27-year-old David Helm who bought four, 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor and gave her $3 in change.

Sullivan told police she had drunk "one 40," but Brennan said the third person in the car, Nicole Pechilis, 18, yelled to her and officers at the scene: "No, you didn't. You had two 40s."

Pechilis refused medical treatment at the scene. Sullivan was taken to Beverly Hospital, where she was treated for broken ribs and chest injuries. She refused to take a blood alcohol test, prosecutors said yesterday.

Yesterday, after watching Sullivan break down outside the courthouse, her aunt, Mary Sullivan, said: "It was an accident. . . . She's very upset, very frightened. She's gone through an awful lot, and she's upset because of what happened to her friend and what's going to happen to her."

Two weeks before the crash, on Oct. 24., Hamilton police stopped Sullivan for driving 51 miles per hour in a 40 mile-per-hour zone and charged her with operating under the influence of alcohol, the prosecutor said. She was released on personal recognizance, but on Nov. 7, two days after the fatal crash, she was supposed to relinquish her license for up to seven months.

"Her actions showed she was unmitigated and undeterred in her decision to drive and to drive drunk," Brennan said.

Sullivan's attorney, Lawrence Pidgeon, said that Sullivan has "long been suffering from learning disabilities and ADD and that her mother informs me that she does not have the maturity of a 19-year-old, but more has the maturity of a 16-year-old." Judge Allen Swan ordered Sullivan held without bail for up to 60 days. Stephen O'Connell, spokesman for the Essex District Attorney, said Sullivan was sent yesterday to MCI-Framingham. She is due back in court on Dec. 8.

Sparaco's family looked shell-shocked after the arraignment. "She was a wonderful person," Sparaco's mother, Marcia Ricci said of her daughter. "She had her own way of doing things."

Sparaco moved from her father's house in New Jersey to her sister's apartment in Ipswich just three weeks ago to try to jump-start her life, friends said. Despite friends' warnings that Sullivan was drunk, Sparaco took a ride with her because she didn't want to break an 11:30 p.m. curfew.

Ricci said yesterday that she didn't harbor any hatred toward Sullivan or her family. "We're both mothers of kids whose lives are destroyed," Ricci said.

About two hours after the arraignment, Robert Sullivan pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and battery and one count of disorderly conduct. He was accused of shoving WCVB-TV Channel 5 reporter Pam Cross and cameraman Stanley Forman. Sullivan posted $500 bail and was released, O'Connell said.

Material from television station WB-56 was used in this report.