The 20-year-old driver of an SUV that crashed in December and killed four Maine Maritime Academy students has been indicted on 17 charges, including four counts of manslaughter.
A lengthy investigation by police determined that Joshua Goncalves-Radding of North Babylon, New York, was speeding and under the influence of alcohol in the predawn hours of Dec. 10 when he lost control of a 2013 Range Rover on Route 166 in Castine, the coastal community where the maritime college is located. The vehicle then left the road, crashed into a tree and erupted into flames.
Four of the seven people in the vehicle were killed: Brian Kenealy, 20, of York; Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner; Luke Simpson, 22, of Rockport, Massachusetts; and Riley Ignacio-Cameron, 20, of Aquinnah, Massachusetts.
The others – Goncalves-Radding; Noelle Tavares, 20, of North Falmouth, Massachusetts; and Dominick Gecoya, 20, of Middleton, Massachusetts, were treated at area hospitals for non-life threatening injuries. All seven were Maine Maritime Academy students.
In addition to four counts of manslaughter, Goncalves-Radding has been indicted on five counts of aggravated OUI, two counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, three counts of driving to endanger, and one count each of criminal speeding, forgery and unlawful use of a license.
The indictments were handed up by a grand jury in Hancock County on Thursday and Goncalves-Radding will be formally charged at a later date, according to information provided by Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss.
At a vigil a few days after the crash, college President Jerry S. Paul said the entire community felt the losses.
“Mourn these young men in their memory. … They were lost way too soon and before their watch was over. We will carry on for them and at the appropriate time ring eight bells in their honor,” he said, referring to the sea tradition honoring someone who has died.
Maine Maritime Academy, which has an enrollment of about 1,000, is one of a handful of maritime colleges in the U.S. where students train as crew members or engineers for careers in the maritime industry.
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