Crossing guard still critical; man, 86, vows to stop driving

October 22, 2008 04:01 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

A despondent 86-year-old man vowed today never to drive again after critically injuring a crossing guard Tuesday morning outside a Dorchester elementary school.

Marie Conley

"I feel so bad, I feel so bad, I cry all night," Anis Cazeau said this afternoon in an interview outside his Dorchester home.

Despite his sorrow, however, Cazeau maintained that the collision was not his fault, saying that he never saw 58-year-old Marie Conley step in the crosswalk in front of his car. Cazeau said that he was driving 7 to 10 miles an hour on Winter Street and that he believes Conley walked backwards into the side of his 1995 Nissan Maxima.

"Nothing was in front of me. Nothing was in front of me." Cazeau said in an accent that has lingered since emigrating from his native Haiti in 1962. "My car was so slow and I heard a bang on my right side … I see the lady on the floor and I call the police. I don't ever see her in the front. So that means I was past" Conley when the car hit her.

Conley remained in critical condition today at Boston Medical Center, where three of her grown children spoke to reporters this afternoon.

"We need everybody to say prayers for my mother," said Jim Conley, a firefighter and paramedic from Florida. "She's still in critical condition. It's day by day. And that's the way we are taking it."

After the family spoke, Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Thomas Lee said the driver will soon be facing criminal charges that include operating to endanger. Lee said that forensics and reports from witnesses contradict Cazeau's assertion that the crossing guard was not in front of his car.

Conley was in full uniform and a reflective vest and standing in the middle of the crosswalk when she was struck, Lee said. She had her right hand extended toward car, telling the driver to stop. Her left hand warned a 10-year-old student not to enter the crosswalk, he said.

Conley loves children, according to her son, who said the family believes that her actions saved the life of the 10-year-old.

Cazeau, a retired building contractor with bifocals, said this afternoon that he has been driving since 1962. After a slight stroke last year, he said, the city issued him a handicapped parking permit for a space in front of his home.

On Tuesday morning, Cazeau said he was clear-headed, noting that the only medication he takes is for high blood pressure. Cazeau was behind the wheel of his Nissan Maxima on his way to visit friends on Navillus Terrace.

Cazeau said he took a left off of Adams onto Winter Street, driving slowly on the narrow road past Mather Elementary School. He said he heard a bump on the right side of his car, stopped, got out, and saw nothing in front of him. After walking to the back of the vehicle, Cazeau said he saw the crossing guard on the ground, bleeding from her mouth.

Cazeau has a lengthy driving record with infractions that date to at least 1985, the limit of the Registry of Motor Vehicles' computer records. It includes six citations for failing to stop, including an incident on June 6, 2002, in which he did not yield for a pedestrian in Dorchester. Cazeau has also been deemed at least 50 percent responsible for five accidents since 1988 in which there was a minimum of $1,000 in damage or significant injury, records show.

This afternoon, Cazeau defended his driving record, saying that he has never hit a pedestrian. The most recent motor vehicle collision in Dorchester on Jan 3, 2007, was not his fault, Cazeau said.

At the press conference at Boston Medical Center, Jim Conley was asked about Cazeau's age and driving record. Jim Conley said that the state needs to "tighten up" the rules and regulations that govern elderly drivers.
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