Cumberland Woman Pleads to 2019 Hit and Run That Left Truck Driver Seriously Injured
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Cumberland woman pleaded yesterday in Providence County Superior Court to striking and seriously injuring a AAA tow truck operator in 2019 and then fleeing the scene. The incident occurred on Diamond Hill Road in Woonsocket.
Emily Lowe (age 28), pleaded nolo contendere to one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury.
At yesterday’s hearing before Superior Court Justice Maureen B. Keough, Lowe was sentenced to five years at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) with two years to serve and the balance suspended with probation. Lowe will serve 90 days at the ACI followed by 21 months in home confinement. The court also ordered that she lose her license for one year and complete 100 hours of community service.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that during the early morning hours of June 30, 2019, Lowe struck and seriously injured a AAA tow truck operator who was placing a disabled vehicle on his flatbed tow truck while in the breakdown lane of Diamond Hill Road in Woonsocket.
Lowe struck the operator from behind, causing serious injuries including multiple broken bones. Members of the Woonsocket Police Department responded to the scene and put out an alert to police departments in neighboring communities.
Shortly thereafter, members of the Cumberland Police Department located Lowe’s damaged vehicle at a McDonald’s restaurant several miles south of the crash scene. Investigators were able to tie the car, which was registered to Lowe, to the crash using DNA evidence.
Additionally, several days after the crash a witness came forward to Woonsocket Police to identify Lowe as the operator of the vehicle. The witness had picked Lowe up from the McDonald’s on the night of the crash.
Officer Jason Berthelette of the Woonsocket Police Department led the investigation. Assistant Attorney General Jay Sullivan prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General.
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