[R]UTLAND – A Rochester man is facing charges alleging he drove under the influence of drugs in a single-vehicle crash that killed his mother in Killington.
Joseph L. Mailhiot, 40, pleaded not guilty Friday in Rutland Superior Court to driving while under the influence of drugs as well as a charge of gross negligent operation in a fatal crash. He was released on conditions.
Killington Police say Mailhiot was driving and his mother, Detra Coltey Mailhiot, 63, of Rochester, was a passenger, in a 2007 Toyota Tacoma that crashed Wednesday afternoon on Route 100 near the Green Mountain National Golf Course in Killington.
Detra Coltey Mailhiot was pronounced dead at Rutland Regional Medical Center shortly after the crash, according to police.
Police say Joseph Mailhiot was behind the wheel when the pickup went off the road, with the driver’s side of the vehicle hitting one tree and the passenger side striking five trees.
Police said that when they arrived on the scene of the crash, which took place around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Joseph Mailhiot was out of the vehicle and his mother was trapped inside. Joseph Mailhiot said he had been driving, heading north from Rutland to Rochester, wrote Killington Police Sgt. James Riehl in an affidavit.
The officer added that Mailhiot said his mother had initially been driving but that she told him she was tired and asked him to switch about 20 minutes before the crash. Mailhiot said he told his mother he didn’t feel well either, but “he’d try to get them home,” the affidavit stated.
The son said he was heading north on Route 100 when a truck crossed into his lane, causing him to swerve off the road, Riehl wrote.
“He told me he didn’t have time to hit the brakes before the crash,” the officer added.
Riehl wrote that as he talked to Mailhiot he noticed his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and was he swaying back and forth on his feet when standing.
Mailhiot told the officer he didn’t drink any alcohol but had smoked marijuana earlier that day, around 3 a.m., and took Robitussin, Aleve and penicillin, the affidavit stated.
The officer wrote that while Mailhiot was in the cruiser talking he appeared to fall asleep “multiple times” then “snapped his head back suddenly” and began talking again.
Mailhiot was taken to the Rutland City Police station for further evaluation by an officer designated a drug recognition expert.
On the way to the police station, Riehl wrote, they talked, but Mailhiot “nodded off” several times.
At the city police station, Mailhiot told Sgt. Adam Lucia of the Rutland City Police Department that he used a “small amount of heroin and some opiates within the last 24 hours,” according to the affidavit.
Mailhiot later told police he had not slept for three days, suffering from mononucleosis and strep throat, according to court records. Also, court documents stated, Mailhiot reported taking 5 mg of OxyContin within the previous 24 hours.
Mailhiot was then taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center to collect a blood sample, which was later sent to the Vermont Forensic Laboratory.
A Vermont State Police Crash Reconstruction Team responded to the scene in Killington and determined that Mailhiot’s vehicle went about 152 feet from where it left the road to when it came to a stop and there were no signs of braking, according to the court records.
If convicted of the charges, Mailhiot faces up to 30 years in prison.
