Plea deal made in Springfield crash

A Springfield man reached a plea deal in a crash that injured another man last year.
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Print Email Photo by Eric Francis Ronald Robinson claims a stuck accelerator on two different cars caused him to crash twice last September. He reached a plea agreement in one of the crashes this week. Published June 26, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Plea deal made in Springfield crash By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield man reached a plea deal in a crash that injured another man last year. Ronald Robinson, 64, pleaded no contest to amended felony and misdemeanor charges of negligent operation. In exchange, the state dropped a charge of drugged driving. “Mr. Robinson is not a drug addict and has never been a drug addict and (the drugged driving) count was amended because that couldn’t be proven,” defense attorney Mike Shane told Judge Karen Carroll during the change-of-plea hearing this week. “I will just say that Mr. Robinson is a veteran and an upstanding citizen with a clean record and he’s taking up his issues with the VA (hospital) and I don’t expect you’ll see him again in this court,” he added. Carroll gave Robinson a deferred sentence on the felony, which means that if he stays out of trouble no sentencing will actually take place. She gave him a suspended sentence of three to six months on the misdemeanor, but he will be on probation for three years. The crash took place on Sept. 23 on Route 11 in Springfield, at the base of the on-ramps to Interstate 91. Police arrived to find Robinson’s rental car lying on its side in the road. Police said he had crashed into a car driven by Joseph Holmes, 63. Holmes was taken to the hospital for bruised ribs and a head laceration that required staples, Springfield Police Sgt. William Daniels wrote in his crash report. Daniels said Robinson “did not appear to be emotionally fazed by the major motor vehicle crash he was just in.” Robinson calmly told the officer he had crashed two cars in as many days, the report said. “Ronald stated that the accelerator pedal stuck in the full open position causing him to lose control,” and drive into the rear of Holmes’ vehicle, Daniels wrote. “The same thing had occurred with another vehicle he was operating that was involved in an accident,” and that was why he was driving a rental car, the report said. Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill told the judge Monday that blood tests showed, and Robinson admitted, “he had a dosage of (prescribed) muscle-relaxants in his system. When Cahill related Robinson’s claims of a stuck accelerator causing two different cars to crash, Robinson angrily interjected “It did!” The prosecutor said, “The chances of that happening twice, two days apart, in two different vehicles are next to nil.” He said Robinson “needs to take a careful look in the mirror and change something about his behavior.”