Driver in fatal accident won't face charges

July 21, 2008

Police said yesterday they do not expect to file charges against the driver of a car who fatally struck a 16-year-old female pedestrian who suddenly darted into a street Saturday night, said Sergeant Sean Sweeney. "She was just driving along, and the next thing you know this girl from nowhere came out," Sweeney said. He said a preliminary investigation has ruled out alcohol, speed, and cellphone use as factors. About 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Paula Lemos, 38, was driving a 2002 Lexus along Falmouth Road near the Cape Cod Mall when she hit Crystal Manchuk of Centerville. Manchuk was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival at Cape Cod Hospital. Her uncle, Kevin Duarte of Mashpee, said yesterday that Manchuk had just finished work and was walking to a birthday party she had helped organize. "Everybody loved her and she was just so kind to everybody," he said.

A military dive team hoping to raise a Russian submarine that sank in the Providence River last year could make the attempt as early as today. The team is studying tides and weather conditions before deciding. The submarine had been home to the floating Russian Sub Museum since 2002 and drew tens of thousands of tourists before it sank after taking on water during a storm in April 2007. If conditions permit, the team could begin pumping air into the submarine this morning, gradually displacing the water inside. It could take up to 10 hours for the submarine to float completely to the surface. (AP)

A man and a woman arrested Friday in Fall River in the shooting of a 17-year-old male in Central Falls, R.I., will be arraigned today in Providence, according to police. Jesse Robertson, 31, and Samantha O'Shea, 23, both of Fall River, are facing multiple charges, including felony assault with a dangerous weapon, discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle, and firing of a weapon in a compact area, Central Falls police Detective Jeff Araujo said. Jeremy Palma, 17, was shot Thursday while playing basketball on Fuller Avenue about 1:50 a.m. Palma sustained a wound to his thigh and was released after being transported to Rhode Island Hospital, Araujo said. Fall River Police apprehended the suspects in cooperation with Central Falls police. Robertson and O'Shea were arraigned Friday in Fall River for extradition to Rhode Island.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking possible witnesses to Saturday's deadly boat collision on Candlewood Lake in Western Connecticut. The department wants to hear from anyone who saw the two boats collide or witnessed one of the vessels leaving the Down the Hatch Restaurant. Two men aboard a 24-foot Formula died in the crash. They have been identified as Richard Layton, 32, of New Milford, and Jason Wanat, 28, of West Redding. A third occupant, Kevin Sullivan, 28, of Bridgewater, was taken to Danbury Hospital. The operator of the second boat, an 18-foot Triton, and his passenger, are both from New York. Both sustained minor injuries. The two boats collided about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, near the Brookfield/New Milford town line.

A man on federal death row for kidnapping and killing a Rutland woman in 2000 is asking a federal appeals court to take a second, broader look at his sentence. Two weeks ago, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the death sentence of Donald Fell, 28. Now Fell's lawyers are asking for another review of the sentence by the full 12-member court. Fell was convicted in 2005 of kidnapping and killing Terry King, 53, of North Clarendon, who was abducted when she arrived for work at a Rutland supermarket. (AP)

Efforts to restore the trout population in the Batten Kill appear to be working, an official said. A state biologist conducted a fish count of a section of the river Thursday and early results were encouraging, said Cynthia Browning, the executive director of the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance. For the last two years biologists and private groups have been working to restore trout habitat on the world-famous trout stream, which in recent years saw a decline of about 70 percent. Vermont Fisheries biologist Kenneth Cox said that testing in one area last year found a 600 percent increase of young fish. (AP)