CLARKSBURG, Mass. — A Readsboro man was held for lack of $250,000 cash bail in Massachusetts following the drowning death of his toddler son on Saturday.
Darrel Galorenzo, 35, pleaded not guilty Monday to a manslaughter charge in the 2-year-old boy’s death. The felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Police said Galorenzo’s vehicle crashed into a utility pole in the Vermont-Massachusetts border town of Clarksburg shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, and Galorenzo set off on foot with the boy.
Several minutes after the crash, Massachusetts State Police said, first responders found Galorenzo by himself near a residence, drenched in water, smelling faintly of alcohol and appearing “highly intoxicated.” He said he lost his son in the nearby brook after the boy took off on him, state police said in a statement of probable cause.
Police said they retrieved the child’s body, which was being swept downstream, at around 2:20 a.m., and he was declared dead at a local hospital.
An autopsy found that the boy died from a combination of drowning and hypothermia, said Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue. He said the brook was around 3 feet deep, with a fast-moving current, and the temperature outdoors had been 25 degrees.
The police report described the toddler as wearing a blue “onesie,” a one-piece garment commonly worn by children.
Shugrue said he’d sought a $250,000 cash bail — or $2.5 million through a bail bond — because Galorenzo is considered a flight risk, since he was trying to evade authorities after his vehicle’s rollover crash.
“He was fleeing from the police that night, and we have a death of a child, which should never have happened,” Shugrue said in an interview. “It’s Easter weekend, and a little boy is dying in the cold, dark waters.”
When asked about Galorenzo’s means to put up bail, Shugrue said the defendant’s family owns real estate in Vermont as well as in their home state of New Jersey. He said Galorenzo has multiple convictions from New Jersey, including possession of controlled drugs while under the influence.
The prosecutor disputed Galorenzo’s statement that the child had run away from him, saying a neighborhood resident saw him pick up the child after they both crawled out of the crashed SUV. Shugrue said investigators believe he lost the child in the water while he was trying to cross the brook to evade police.
Shugrue said Galorenzo had been drinking with friends on Friday night and got into a fight with the child’s mother after he returned to their home that evening. In the early hours of Saturday, the prosecutor said, Galorenzo wanted to meet up with his friends again, with his toddler in tow, for a “boys’ night out” but got into a crash.
Galorenzo is also facing several misdemeanor charges in the case: reckless endangerment of a child, child endangerment while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, leaving the scene of a property damage and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
His defense attorney, Paul Rudof, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
