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Police: Saugus student says he had 10 beers before crash

E-mail|Link May 18, 2009 01:47 PM

By Brian Ballou and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Jonathan Caruso spoke in a thick slur, telling a Saugus police officer who responded to the scene of a fatal crash Saturday morning that he must have fallen asleep at the wheel as he drove home from his high school prom, according to a police report filed today in court.

Jonathan Caruso appeared today in Lynn District Court. (George Rizer/Globe Staff)

When he awoke after hitting a street sign, according to the report, a fellow high school student in his car told him he had just hit two pedestrians.

"While speaking with Jonathan I detected a heavy odor of alcohol coming from his breath," Patrolman Matthew Donahue wrote in the report. "At that point I asked Jonathan if he had been drinking. To which he stated he had been drinking some beers. I asked how many beers, to which Jonathan said he had 10 beers earlier as he was celebrating prom with his friends."

Caruso, 18, pleaded not guilty today in Lynn District Court to charges of motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, operating under the influence of alcohol, and being a minor unlawfully transporting alcohol. He declined to comment as he left court with his family this afternoon after posting $7,500 cash bail.

Caruso is accused of killing Carol Marean, 67, who died on Essex Street after suffering blunt force trauma to her head and torso, fracturing her spine, and lacerating her liver, according to the police report. Marean had been walking her dog with her daughter, Charlotte, 41, who remains in critical but stable condition at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Caruso's prom date, Courtney Faysal, told WCVB-TV: “He’s not a monster. Everyone is making him out to be a monster.”

Faysal said Caruso had dropped her off at her home at 4:30 a.m. and that she had not seen any alcohol in the car.

When police responded at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday to the crash, they found Caruso lying on the ground with his head in the lap of Rosa Palomba, 18, a classmate who had been riding in his gray Chevy Cavalier.

"We killed that person!" Palomba screamed as she cried hysterically, according to the police report, adding, "I just want to die."

Palomba told police, “We want to take full responsibility to what happened.”

Investigators found four beer cans in the trunk of Caruso’s car, according to the report, and he failed a field sobriety test. Approximately 90 minutes after the crash, authorities said, Caruso took a breathalyzer and registered a blood alcohol content of 0.02. The legal blood alcohol limit in Massachusetts is 0.08.

Caruso had attended a school-sponsored post-prom harbor cruise in Boston and was bused back to the high school at about 4 a.m., police said. The students were required to take a breathalyzer before the prom and again before boarding the cruise ship, where their bags were also searched before entry. Lieutenant Michael Annese said at a news conference Saturday afternoon that the students "weren't drinking on the [boat] trip."

It was not immediately clear where the students went from 4 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.

"The party should have ended at 4 a.m., but instead it continued," Essex Assistant District Attorney Christina Ronan said today in court.

Caruso and Palomba both told police that the beer had been supplied by Christopher Baldwin, 19, who was also in the car at the time of the crash, according to the police report. The two students did not elaborate.

Neighbors said on Saturday the three teenagers initially tried to leave the scene.

"The kids started to flee, and I said: `No, no, no. I know what you look like,"' said Donna, who lives across the street and asked that her last name not be used because she is a public employee in a nearby city.

The three teens, none injured, then waited for police to arrive.

Debbie Belmonte, who lives across the street from the crash site, said on Saturday that she rushed outside when she heard a bang.

Belmonte, who said she is trained as a first-responder, knew the older woman was dead and began to assist the other woman, who had suffered a severe head injury and was conscious but disoriented.

"She had a large laceration, she was bleeding. I told her not to move," Belmonte said. "I just stayed with her until the ambulance came."

Globe correspondent Matt Collette contributed to this report.