WOODSTOCK, Vt. (WCAX) – A Vermont man has been charged in a deadly pedestrian crash but he’s not the person police first identified as the driver. New information led police to determine the man who said he was the passenger was actually behind the wheel in a crash that left a pedestrian dead.
Vermont state police say Jamee Shields, 26, of West Townshend, originally took the blame for the crash because the actual driver, Daniel Carr, 34, of Townshend, demanded she switch seats with him.
Police say the crash happened on Dec. 9 on Vermont Route 30 in Townshend. They say Shane Whittaker, 24, of Jamaica, Vermont, was standing along the road when he was hit by a truck. He died at the hospital three days later.
Police now say it was Carr who was driving the truck. Carr pleaded not guilty Monday to several charges.
According to court paperwork, Shields initially agreed to take the blame because Carr had been in trouble with the law and she was afraid of him.
The affidavit details Carr’s criminal history, including previous DUI charges with active conditions barring him from driving any vehicle. They were factors that gave Vermont Superior Court Judge Lisa Warren pause.
“The court is concerned, notwithstanding counsel’s eloquent argument about his ties to the community, his employment, his service in the National Guard… The court is very concerned about whether or not he will appear in this case with another possible 20 years at risk here for him if convicted,” the judge said.
According to court paperwork, last week, police reviewed surveillance footage captured at the River Bend Farm Market on the night of the crash. Police said they were able to determine from that video that Shields was in the passenger seat and Carr was driving.
Carr is currently being held on $25,000 bail.
Shields was charged with providing false information to a law enforcement officer.