Pedestrian Struck by Suspected Drunk Driver
Police say this was Attleboro resident Richard Johnson's second drunk driving offense.
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A 46-year-old Attleboro resident was arrested late Friday afternoon after he allegedly struck a 72-year-old New Hampshire man with his vehicle on County Street near the Olive Street intersection and continued driving.
Attleboro Police Sgt. Brian Witherell said Richard Johnson was arrested on suspicion of second offense OUI, OUI causing serious bodily injury, operating a motor vehicle to endanger and leaving the scene of a crash.
The New Hampshire man, Richard Guimond, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with severe injuries to both sides of his pelvis, his wife Lisa told Attleboro Patch.
Johnson told police he continued driving after striking Guimond shortly before 4:15 p.m. because he did not know what he had allegedly done, Witherell said. A witness followed Johnson, and later brought him back to the scene of the incident, where the suspect was arrested.
A portion of County Street was briefly closed while police conducted an investigation.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story stated Richard Guimond went to the hospital with a hand injury. It was actually severe pelvic injuries. The story has been updated.
YouMayNotLikeMyComments
7:04 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013
From the County/ Olive Street intersection:
Rhode Island Hospital~ 13.3 mi, approx. 17 minutes away.
Sturdy~ 1.1 mi, approx. 4 minutes away.
That's some great logic right there.
Love My Jacks
8:34 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013
They send them to RI hospital if its serious and needs more intense emergency treatment. Glad they sent my husband to RI after his accident!!!
Brandy G.
12:10 am on Saturday, February 16, 2013
RI Hospital has a VERY good trauma unit.
Karen Carpenter-Santos
8:47 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013
Sturdy is NOT a truama hospital... All critical patients go to RI.
Jonathan Friedman
10:09 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013
I have updated the story with more details.
Brooke
11:14 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Where have you updated the story. The gentleman who was hit by a truck did not sustain an injury ONLY to his hand, but sustained serious injuries. Somehow the misinformation makes this a minor injury, so there will be little focus on a convicted OUI driver hitting an innocent man just trying to cross the street to visit his family????HMMMMMM. Press these days, always an agenda
Jonathan Friedman
11:18 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Brooke, what do you believe my agenda is? The entire story was updated based on information from the Attleboro Police Department, as cited in the story. If you have additional information to share, feel free to email or call me anytime. I can be reached anytime at jonathan.friedman@patch.com or 508-821-8613.
Kim Penque
11:55 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013
I am shocked it was just his hand! I put the blanket over him (sorry it was my dog blanket) and he was bleeding pretty good. His shoe was about 100 feet away from him. Prayers tonite that this man heals well and the driver who took off gets prosecuted and possibly gets the help he needs as well.
Joe Williams
6:06 pm on Saturday, February 16, 2013
Yeah, out of the thousands of people in Attleboro it just happened to be Kim Penque- who is a Patch regular- who rendered aid to the victim. What a coincidence.
Briana Auclair
8:26 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Yes Joe Williams, the Attleboro Patch is running a huge controversial operation where they send out drunk drivers and Patch members. The drunk drivers hit unsuspecting citizens while the Patch members give aid (You'd better hope the one who responds to you isn't squimish) all in the name of good comments (since she wasn't mentioned in the story). You have come across a huge cover up! It's way too much of a conspiracy to just go with that Kim has to travel a lot and happened to be around the area when it happened and cared enough to stop. People are so disconnected today that they'd ignore what was going on to not be late to wherever they were headed and it happened to be a person who had regard for all life, human or animal, that was passing by and did what she always does- help. You couldn't focus on anything else in this story like the drunk driver, the victim, the situation...you focused on the person who decided to help out? Sheesh. We live in a critical society. How about you concentrate on some prayers for the guy...
Poland Spring
4:10 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
It wasnt just his hand, he had internal bleeding and 2 fractured hips.
Nelson Almeida
12:54 am on Saturday, February 16, 2013
I would never go to Sturdy. A walk in clinic would provide better service. Just my opinion
yerkillinme
8:55 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Nelson, you know what the say about opinions, don't you? Sturdy's ER consistently gets very high patient satisfaction ratings from Press-Ganey which is a national hospital rating service. These ratings are published quarterly and Sturdy Is usually in the 90th percentile or higher when compared to similar hospitals.
Ali
7:24 am on Saturday, February 16, 2013
Who cares about the hospital! The fact that this is a second offence should be the topic of discussion. When a innocent person is injured due to a person's ignorance to drive while under the influence - this is the real issue!
Hollie
10:58 am on Saturday, February 16, 2013
Massachusetts has some of the most lax drunk driving laws in the country. Even after 6 or more offenses these morons still qualify for a hardship or "cinderella" license. This occurred at 4pm, which would fall within the allowed hours of a hardship license, meaning even after numerous OUI offenses, he would still LEGALLY be allowed to drive. It is sickening to me that this is the case. My father was hit and killed (also as a pedestrian in an OUI hit and run) almost 10yrs ago and the man that did it served 4 months behind bars, but mainly because we suggested he have to serve hundreds of hours of community service at a head injury clinic to see up close and personally what the consequences are since the Mass laws are such a joke. We hoped this would make more of an impact than the slap on the wrist most receive. I hope this man makes a full recovery and hopefully in the near future this state will take this offense seriously. If you ask me, someone who is intoxicated enough to leave the scene of an accident not knowing what happened should never have the privilege of driving a car ever again. The hardship license is designed to allow these convicted offenders to get to work in order to keep their jobs, but if they have no regard for those they put in jeopardy by getting behind the wheel, why should we be concerned with whether or not they can DRIVE to their jobs??!!
Brooke c
11:08 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Hollie, you make way too much sense to be an elected official, but if you run, I will vote for you. A license is a privilege, not a right. The gentleman crossing the street was doing so to visit family, and have a nice, pleasant day. Who would think an ignorant, irresponisble drunk would hit him in the middle of the afternoon? Thank GOD for the heroic driver who followed the drunk driver and made him return to the scene. Otherwise, he could have just kept hitting people until he arrived at the next bar.
TAMMY ELDERKIN
12:56 pm on Saturday, February 16, 2013
I agree with Hollie! 100%
Alan Wartenberg MD
1:48 pm on Saturday, February 16, 2013
As someone who recently retired from working in the chemical dependency treatment field, there is a lack of adequate treatment, either in the state-sponsored drunk driving programs, or in the private sector. If treatment is mandated by a court, insurance companies will NOT pay for it. What has actually been shown to work best is a period (even brief) of incarceration, followed by a complete and long-term treatment program (initially several weeks of intensive treatment followed by once/twice per week for one year), with the prospect of more incarceration if the treatment program is not successfully completed. Despite the fact that there is abundant data that this is what works, we continue to see mostly either people referred to very short treatment programs, or incarcerated with no subsequent treatment.
deb of see-attleboro
2:11 pm on Saturday, February 16, 2013
In today's world, does alcohol treatment really work? We live in a very sick society. Alcohol at Sunday brunch?
Alcohol is available almost everywhere and before long it will be available 24/7.
The government is there to trip up the afflicted and then mandate that insurance companies pick up the pieces. Sick.,,sick...sick!
Emily Uriot
5:17 am on Sunday, February 17, 2013
They worry about legalizing pot but I've never seen anyone arrested for getting in an accident under the influence of pot.
lisa guimond
8:00 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
I am so thankful for caring people like Kim who gave a blanket as well as other giving me keys and pocketbook. My husband had no head injury thank god but he has serious fractures on both sides of pelvis and at first they did not know if he will be walking for a while our hope is that soon he might beable to put weight on one side and if fractures dont shift no surgery needed he is no ok with only a hand injury we were in emergency area almost 2days! I need to get a hold of paper and ket them know what this 2nd offender has done to my poor husband ...
Brooke
11:16 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Hey Lisa,
The reporter is Jonathan Friedman, and he replied above that he has updated the story, but I see no updates. I left a comment for him. Hope you guys do as well. Misreporting is attrocious
Brooke
11:19 am on Monday, February 18, 2013
Thank God for the witness who brought the drunk driver back to the scene, not only so he could be properly prosecuted, but so he could stop driving, and stop injuring people. That witness is a HERO.
What an awful, awful time for the Guimonds and family. My heart and prayers go out to all of you.
Jerry Chase
12:25 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
Why is it that Mass. is the ONLY state out of the 50 in which a FAILED breathalyzer test is not an 'automatic' conviction in court of DWI / DUI / OUI ? Yes, in 49 states, a failed breathalyzer test is a guaranteed conviction in court. Why not here?
Here's another question: is a conviction for OUI a misdemeanor or a felony? I'm guessing that it's the former, not the latter.
George Glass
9:13 pm on Tuesday, February 19, 2013
A large percentage of lawmakers here in Mass are former defense attorneys who make their bread and butter on DUI's. The state was FORCED to create tougher laws a few years back or they would lose federal funding. It is awful what this state sees a a criminal offence. The person who killed my sister in law was in jail for 18 months. that's all. Drunk Driving (impaired driving)should be viewed as a crime, not an accident.
Best wishes to the Guimond family during this very challenging time. My prayers are with you.
lisa guimond
4:10 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
I agree Brooke i wish I knew the name of that person who tracked that man down he needs to be accountable for his actions he has ruined our lives as we once knew! I do thank God for that hero and all the concerned people of Attleboro
Brooke
4:14 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
Hey Lisa,
Here is the reporter's information. He responded to my comment.
If you have additional information to share, feel free to email or call me anytime. I can be reached anytime at jonathan.friedman@patch.com or 508-821-8613.
Jonathan Friedman
5:29 pm on Tuesday, February 19, 2013
I spoke with Lisa Guimond, the wife of victim Richard Guimond, today. I have updated the story regarding the specific injury information. An additional story will be posted on the site regarding related matters soon.