Drunk driver who caused fatal Attleboro crash, sentenced to state prison

A 43-year-old man, who caused a fatal crash on Route 95 in Attleboro in March of 2017 after bar-hopping in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day, was sentenced to serve five to eight years in state prison Thursday afternoon in Fall River Superior Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

According to Gregg Miliote of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Michael Spinale of Roslindale pleaded guilty to a two-count indictment, charging him with Motor Vehicle Manslaughter-OUI and Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon.

On March 18, 2017 at around 1 a.m. police received a 911 call from a motorist who stated that while driving along Route 95 southbound, he spotted another vehicle behind him travelling at an alarming rate of speed. In order to avoid the vehicle rapidly coming at him from behind, the motorist had to swerve his car into a snowbank. The motorist told police that moments later, he was the same vehicle that was travelling at an excessive rate of speed slam into the rear end of a taxi.

A Massachusetts State Trooper who first arrived on scene observed a car fully lodged into the backseat of a taxi cab. At this point, the suspect was yelling at the cab driver, “Why did you stop?”

Further investigation later revealed that the cab driver did not stop. The rear-seat passenger in the taxi, later identified as Kailash Bolar, 39, of Warwick, was being driven home from the airport at the time of the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

The cab driver told police that, without any warning, he was hit from behind in what felt like a massive explosion. He turned around to see Mr. Spinale’s car in his trunk.
When speaking with the defendant, police detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath, slurred speech and glassy eyes. The defendant’s pants also appeared to be wet in the groin area. When asked if he had been drinking earlier, the defendant stated, “of course, I did, it’s St. Patrick’s Day.” He said he had consumed five or six beers. He later stated that he was “bar hopping in the Faneuil Hall area” and said, “It’s not like I’m falling down drunk or anything.”

Accident reconstruction analysts opined that the defendant was the primary cause of the collision in which the defendant was operating his motor vehicle at a speed in between 126-127 MPH. The cab was operating at a speed of 66 mph.

During a sentencing hearing before Judge Rafi Yessayan, Assistant District Attorney Michael Sheehan argued that based on the reckless conduct of the defendant and the tragic loss of life that resulted from his conduct, the defendant should serve 12 to 15 years in state prison. The defendant, however, requested a more lenient five year state prison term. Judge Yessayan ended up sentencing the defendant to serve five to eight years in state prison, to be followed by three years of supervised probation.

“Because of the defendant’s drunken state and reckless operation of a motor vehicle, a man who was just trying to get hom eot his family from the airport is dead. This was all because the defendant was bar hopping in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day,” District Attorney Quinn lamented. “Because of his outrageous conduct and the harm he has caused the defendant should spend a significant amount of time in state prison.”