An Oak Bluffs man is being held on motor vehicle homicide charges after a head-on, two-vehicle collision on Beach Road Saturday night that resulted in the death of another driver and severe injuries to two other passengers.
Zachary A. Dupon, 25, of Oak Bluffs has been charged with motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, speeding and marked lanes violation, according to a statement released early Sunday afternoon by state police spokesman David Procopio.
On Monday morning, Mr. Dupon was arraigned before the Hon. Paul Pino on all three charges via polycom from the Edgartown house of correction. Bail was set at $12,000. A statement of facts was provided by assistant district attorney Matthew Palazollo, and arguments were also heard from Mr. Dupon’s defense attorney, Casey Dobel.
Edgartown district court clerk Liza Williamson had previously set bail at $25,000 bail Saturday night.
Emma Hall, 22, of Oak Bluffs, sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the state police release and a statement of facts read in court Monday morning. Two other passengers in Ms. Hall’s vehicle sustained injuries and were transported to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. One of the passengers was subsequently airlifted to a Boston Hospital, according to the statement.
The two other passengers were both females; one a teenager and the other a young adult, Mr. Procopio said. Although state police do not release the names of surviving motorists in a crash, the prosecuting attorney Monday morning named the passengers as Monica Carroll and Molly Carroll when reading a statement of facts prepared by police. Monica Carroll was named as the passenger who had been airlifted to a Boston hospital.
Mr. Dupon sustained minor injuries in the crash, and has been released from the hospital into state police custody.
The collision occurred between Wind’s Up and the R.M. Packer Co. wharf at approximately 8:10 p.m. Saturday, according to Tisbury police and fire officials at the scene, with one car flipped and the top of another severely damaged.
Beach Road was closed for approximately six hours as the Tisbury and Oak Bluffs police and emergency services departments responded to the incident.
State police led the investigation, with troopers from the state police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section assisting. Tisbury police also assisted in the response.
Few details were available at the time of the crash, but glass and debris from both cars, each of which sustained major damage, were visible in the heavily-trafficked spit of oceanside roadway that connects Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. Tisbury fire chief Greg Leland confirmed at the scene that the collision was head-on.
A state police accident reconstruction team arrived on Island overnight Saturday and completed its work at 3 a.m., according to Tisbury police.
In the more detailed statement released Sunday afternoon, Mr. Procopio said that the preliminary state police investigation determined from evidence at the scene that Mr. Dupon was heading southbound in a 2002 Nissan SUV on Beach Road when he moved into the northbound lane to pass two vehicles that were ahead of him. He then struck Ms. Hall’s Volkswagen Beetle head-on, which was going northbound, flipping his car and injuring all three passengers in hers.
“Mr. Dupon passed the other vehicles and then, still going south in the northbound lane, struck, head-on, a 2010 Volkswagen Beetle that was traveling northbound,” the statement said. “The operator of the Beetle, Emma Hall, 22, of Oak Bluffs, sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was determined to be deceased on-scene.”
Mr. Procopio said the investigation remains ongoing. “If the investigation determines additional charges are warranted, they will be filed,” he also said.
At the arraignment Monday, Mr. Palazzo’s statement of facts corroborated the statement from state police. Mr. Palazzo added that there were two witnesses of the crash, one of whom estimated that Mr. Dupon was traveling between 60 and 70 miles per hour while attempting to pass the vehicles. Beach Road has different speed limits depending on location. The speed limit is 40 miles per hour near the drawbridge, but lowers to 30 on the Vineyard Haven portion of the road.
According to Mr. Palazzo, Mr. Dupon spoke to police at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and admitted to drinking one Mike’s Hard Lemonade on Saturday night, and said he may have been looking at his phone while driving. He is not currently facing any alcohol-related charges.
“[The defendant] stated that he may have been looking at his cell phone because someone called him as he was crossing over the drawbridge,” Mr. Palazzo said.
According to a police report filed in court, Ms. Hall was wearing a seatbelt.
The arraignemnt occurred on the same day as Mr. Dupon’s scheduled pretrial hearing for a separate, Oct. 7 charge of two counts of Class C drug possession (Xanax and Clonazepam). Mr. Palazzo requested during the arraignment that the court rescind bail in the drug possession case. Judge Pino granted the motion.
On Monday, Mr. Palazzo advocated for the court to set bail at $25,000 considering the severity of the current charges and outstanding charges on Mr. Dupon’s record. Ms. Dobel asked that bail be set at $2,000 bail, citing Mr. Dupon’s financial position, medical concerns and character.
“He’s a kid with a good heart. It’s absolutely horrible what happened,” Ms. Dobel said.
Judge Pino ultimately decided to set bail at $12,000, with a $120,000 surety and the condition that Mr. Dupon not operate a motor vehicle. Mr. Dupon is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 14, 2021.
According to Gazette archives, Ms. Hall graduated with honors from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 2017.
Mr. Dupon graduated from the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School in 2013.
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