Crime & Safety

JPD: Woman Crashed After Racing Brother

Johnston Police said alcohol and high speeds were factors in the May 19 accident on George Waterman Road.

 

Following an investigation that lasted more than a month, on June 21 arrested a local woman on numerous misdemeanor charges after a May 19 crash on George Waterman Road.

Police charged Shana Cheshier, 21, of 19 Chestnut St., with driving while intoxicated; street racing; reckless driving; driving to endanger, resulting in physical injury; and several moving violations after officers said they determined Cheshier had been traveling at more than 60 mph and racing the car driven by her younger brother.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Witnesses told police that Cheshier's car, a Nissan Maxima, and her brother's car, a Cadlillac, were driving at high speeds along George Waterman Road at about 2 am on May 19 when they turned a corner near Pat's Auto Sales.

The two witnesses, who were in a car that Cheshier and her brother passed before the crash, said that when they got to the curve in the road, they saw Cheshier's car in the parking lot of Pat's, where it had collided with two parked vehicles.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ptlm. Philip Viens, the first officer to respond to the crash, reported that when he arrived, "The operator was not on scene."

After taking a statement from the witnesses, Viens wrote, he saw a male, later identified as Cheshier's 17-year-old brother, carrying Cheshier back to the location of the crash.

According to Viens, Cheshier said she had been driving her car northbound on George Waterman (toward Centredale) with a passenger, identified as Nicole Mooney, 21, when her car left the roadway, hit a sign, and crashed into the cars on the Pat's lot.

Cheshier's brother told police that he had brought Mooney and a female passenger from his car back to their home; rescue personnel went to 19 Chestnut St. and took Mooney to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of cuts to her arm, Viens reported.

Another officer, Ptlm. Kevin Brady, wrote that he recorded a .068 blood alcohol level on the Breathalyzer test he gave Cheshier.

Rescue personnel took Cheshier to Rhode Island Hospital, where Ptlm. Dana Gousie reported that officers gathered blood samples collected by a nurse there.

Ptlm. John DeAngelis, one of the police department's accident reconstruction officers, went to the site at about 3:30 am on May 19 to investigate the crash.

Based on his measurements and interviews with the witnesses, DeAngelis wrote that he determined Cheshier's car was going "in excess of 65 mph" in the 35-mph zone before hitting the two cars in the Pat's lot and causing damage to nine others.

DeAngelis noted that he tried to speak with Cheshier, but her attorney "would not allow her to be interviewed."

On June 13, Capt. Marc Boisvert reported that he received a toxicology report which showed that Cheshier had tested positive for marijuana, and that he sent the results by mail to Cheshier.

Officers formally charged Cheshier after she went to the police department on June 21, and released her until a scheduled June 27 arraignment in Third District Court, Warwick.

By presstime, information on Cheshier's arriagnment had not yet been posted on the Rhode Island Judiciary's web site.

Cheshier is also scheduled to attend a hearing at the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal on Aug. 2.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.