BOSTON - Just weeks before going on trial in New Hampshire for running a powerboat over a kayak moments after the kayaker bailed out, a man from Weston was held on $50,000 cash bail after police said he drove drunk and struck a college student early Sunday morning in Brighton.
Benjamin Knott, 18, of 3 Nottingham Lane, Weston, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury.
He was arrested after state police say he struck 21-year-old Boston College student Bethany Pfalzgraf of Londonderry, N.H., who suffered serious injuries. She was listed in good condition yesterday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney's office, said the bail commissioner set Knott's bail at $1 million Sunday night. At Knott's arraignment at Brighton District Court yesterday, his bail was set at $50,000, said Wark.
On Dec. 18, Knott is scheduled to go on trial in New Hampshire on a charge of careless and negligent operation of a powerboat.
The New Hampshire Marine Patrol said that in August, Knott, then 17, drove a boat across Lake Sunapee and struck the kayak of a 52-year-old Jamaica Plain man. Police at the time said the kayaker avoided serious injury by plunging underwater to avoid Knott's boat. The kayaker surfaced to find debris from his kayak spread across the water, according to the Associated Press.
Knott, who was pulling a water skier, returned and took the kayaker and the pieces of the kayak back to the shore. Police said alcohol was not a factor.
New Hampshire Marine Patrol Sgt. Dave Ouellette said Knott could face a fine of up to $1,200 if convicted.
On Sunday night, police responded to a report of a hit-and-run accident with injuries at St. Thomas More Road, a public street near the BC campus, said state police spokesman Lt. David Wilson.
There, police found Pfalzgraf, a senior in BC's College of Arts and Sciences, with serious injuries.
Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said Knott is not a student at BC, and turned onto the campus after driving away from the accident. Dunn said campus police reported to officers in the area that the car that struck Pfalzgraf had a damaged headlight.
A Boston College officer saw Knott's car driving through campus, saw it had a damaged headlight, and stopped Knott at a school parking lot near the student recreation center, said Dunn. College police held Knott until state police arrived, said Dunn.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Teenager charged with DUI after BC student is hit
A Weston teenager was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail yesterday on charges of drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident in allegedly striking a Boston College senior with his parents’ sport utility vehicle as she crossed a street on the Chestnut Hill campus early Sunday.
The victim, Bethany Pfalzgraf, 21, of Londonderry, N.H., was upgraded from serious to good condition yesterday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where she is being treated for serious injuries, prosecutors said.
Benjamin Knott, 18, is accused of hitting Pfalzgraf shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Thomas More Road in Brighton, then fleeing to a parking lot on campus, where BC police spotted him examining the front-end damage to the Toyota and alerted State Police, authorities said.
Knott told State Police he had been visiting a friend on campus and had “a few drinks’’ and then blew 0.18 and 0.20 on Breathalyzer tests, Assistant District Attorney Michael Callahan said in court. In Massachusetts, where the drinking age is 21, the legal limit is 0.08 for adults, and an even more stringent 0.02 for drivers under 21.
Witnesses heard the crash, saw a vehicle leave, and observed Pfalzgraf unconscious on the street. They later identified the Toyota Land Cruiser driven by Knott as the one that had struck the young woman, police said.
Knott pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Brighton District Court to operating under the influence of alcohol, causing serious bodily injury, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury.
He was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail by District Judge Eleanor C. Sinnott.
“He and his family wish the best for the person who was struck,’’ said Boston attorney Thomas Drechsler, who represents Knott. “The allegation here is it was a very bad, slippery, icy evening.’’ He described Knott as “a fine young man who’s had a good educational track record.’’
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The victim, Bethany Pfalzgraf, 21, of Londonderry, N.H., was upgraded from serious to good condition yesterday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where she is being treated for serious injuries, prosecutors said.
Benjamin Knott, 18, is accused of hitting Pfalzgraf shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Thomas More Road in Brighton, then fleeing to a parking lot on campus, where BC police spotted him examining the front-end damage to the Toyota and alerted State Police, authorities said.
Knott told State Police he had been visiting a friend on campus and had “a few drinks’’ and then blew 0.18 and 0.20 on Breathalyzer tests, Assistant District Attorney Michael Callahan said in court. In Massachusetts, where the drinking age is 21, the legal limit is 0.08 for adults, and an even more stringent 0.02 for drivers under 21.
Witnesses heard the crash, saw a vehicle leave, and observed Pfalzgraf unconscious on the street. They later identified the Toyota Land Cruiser driven by Knott as the one that had struck the young woman, police said.
Knott pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Brighton District Court to operating under the influence of alcohol, causing serious bodily injury, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury.
He was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail by District Judge Eleanor C. Sinnott.
“He and his family wish the best for the person who was struck,’’ said Boston attorney Thomas Drechsler, who represents Knott. “The allegation here is it was a very bad, slippery, icy evening.’’ He described Knott as “a fine young man who’s had a good educational track record.’’
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