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SUPERIOR COURT

Alcohol supplier sentenced

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- A 23-year-old man admitted Tuesday to supplying the vodka that contributed to a teen driver losing her hands and feet in a fiery crash on her birthday in downtown Winthrop.

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Jacob Weston Clark.

Kennebec County Jail photo

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Jacob Weston Clark, of Augusta, was sentenced in Kennebec County Superior Court to 364 days in jail, with all but 90 days suspended, and one year of administrative release after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of furnishing liquor to a minor.

The Dec. 6, 2008, crash left Caitlin Bazinet, who turned 18 that day, hospitalized for several months with severe burns and other injuries.

"She's doing very well right now," her father, Leo Bazinet, said in response to a phone inquiry Tuesday afternoon.

Clark -- who was arrested Feb. 25 in a new alcohol-related incident -- is the only person thus far to face criminal charges in the Bazinet crash.

In defending Clark, his attorney, Ronald Bourget, said Tuesday "there were indicators that additional alcohol was provided by others," and that Clark had no prior criminal record.

Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle said Tuesday that others might still be charged in the Bazinet case.

"We've just received additional reports from the Winthrop Police Department," Fowle said, "and they've asked us to consider whether any other individuals should be charged in connection with that incident."

Winthrop Police Chief Joseph Young said Tuesday he filed a police report with Fowle's office requesting a drunken-driving charge be brought against Bazinet.

"Her actions -- albeit because of making a poor decision, as most young people do when they drink and drive -- caused considerable issues, emotional stress and expense in our community," Young said. "I feel bad that she got hurt and suffered, but I have a legal and moral obligation to this community to do what's right. There's such a problem with underage drinking in this state."

Bazinet was alone and trapped after her 1996 Honda Civic struck a utility pole and caught fire at Main Street and Highland Avenue. The vehicle split in half and overturned less than a block from the police station, and two officers fought the blaze with fire extinguishers until firefighters arrived. The police reported hearing her screams.

Bazinet spent 6 1/2 months in several Boston hospitals but returned home in time to graduate with her Winthrop High School class in June 2009. She walked on two prosthetic feet and had her hands wrapped.

A Web site describing her lengthy rehabilitation was set up by Bazinet's sister, Leslie.

Not long after the crash, police said they believed it was alcohol-related.

An affidavit by Winthrop police Detective Mary MacMaster filed with Augusta District Court said a number of people were in Bazinet's car just prior to the crash.

Felicia Frost, 19, and Erika Gile, 18, told police they were in the car as Bazinet drove Clark to Rite Aid, where he purchased Blueberry Smirnoff Vodka which he gave to Bazinet, according to the affidavit. Frost and Gile told police they saw Bazinet drinking from the bottle and also from a bottle of blue Kool-Aid, and both told police she was impaired by alcohol.

Johnny King, who police said had been in the vehicle just prior to the crash, told police the bottle was being passed around inside the car, along with a blue Kool-Aid chaser. Ryan Michaud also said he was in Bazinet's car; he also described her drinking.

Clark admitted to investigators he purchased the vodka and Senator's Club whiskey at Rite Aid. His birth date is listed on the transaction receipt.

"Jacob initially stated that Caitlin, Erika and Felicia were drinking alcohol at is residence and later recanted," MacMaster's affidavit says.

Clark also denied giving the vodka bottle to Bazinet.

MacMaster said records from Massachusetts General Hospital -- where Bazinet was flown after being airlifted to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston -- showed alcohol and other substances were present in Bazinet's blood on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, 2008.

MacMaster and another Winthrop police officer, Peter Cloutier, interviewed Bazinet at Shriner's Hospital on March 19, 2009, and she told them she had no recollection of her birthday or the crash.

Clark, on Tuesday, also pleaded guilty to violating conditions of release for using alcohol Feb. 25.

He was arrested Feb. 25 in Winthrop after fleeing from a crash on Winthrop Center Road that left a truck on its roof. He was being held without bail until Tuesday's hearing.

Clark, a passenger in the Feb. 25 crash, admitted drinking alcohol in violation of a bail condition. His blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was measured at 0.09.

Conditions of his bail in the case involving Bazinet banned him from drinking alcohol.

"People should realize they're breaking the law when they're supplying alcohol to underage people," Young, the Winthrop police chief, said. "Don't buy alcohol for anyone under the age of 21; if you do you can get up to a year in jail."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com