Gloucester woman pleads guilty in crash involving Sandra Bullock

By Globe Staff

The Gloucester woman who crashed her car into actress Sandra Bullock's SUV last month pleaded guilty today to drunken driving and failing to stay within marked lanes, Essex prosecutors said.

Lucile Gatchell, 64, was placed on probation for a year. Gloucester District Court Judge Joseph Jennings also ordered her to complete an alcohol safety program. Her license will also be suspended for 60 days.

Prosecutors said Gatchell drove her gray station wagon across the center line on East Main Street in Gloucester at about 9:50 p.m. on April 18, smashing into the car containing Bullock, her husband, Jesse James, and their driver. Nobody was injured in the incident, the Essex district attorney's office said in a statement.

Gatchell's attorney, Benjamin Richard, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

Bullock was in the area shooting the romantic comedy "The Proposal" and had just finished filming for the day in Rockport.

After the collision, according to a report by the arresting officer, Gatchell was told several times that she had hit Bullock, and each time she expressed shock, as if it was the first time she heard.

"She said, `My first drunk driving incident, and I hit Sandra Bullock,"' Officer Kevin Mackey said in an interview. "She was almost laughing. But crying, too."

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