BY TIMOTHY LA ROCHE
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CLAREMONT — The sound of breaking glass caused Brenda Pellerin to jump as a snow plow hit her Weathersfield, Vt., home last month. Claremont Fire Capt. Jeffrey Morin was allegedly at the wheel of the 2007 Dodge 3500 pickup.
“I thought the vehicle was coming into the living room because the lights were so bright,” Pellerin told police. “The vehicle kept going.”
Morin, 52, pleaded not guilty in Windsor County Superior Court last week to two counts of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, vehicle operation with reckless or gross negligence and leaving the scene of an accident. According to police affidavits, Morin allegedly had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.144 percent during the incident — nearly twice the legal limit.
On Jan. 18, Vermont State Police received a report from Pellerin that a truck with a snow plow attached struck her Weathersfield home before fleeing the scene. Troopers found the truck in question at the Sunoco Gas Station on Route 131 in Weathersfield shortly after 7 p.m. that evening.
According to affidavits, Trooper Austin Soule observed damage to the plow, as well as the truck’s front and rear passenger side tires. The lights on top of the pull were also broken. Morin initially told police that the truck incurred the damage after he hit a snowbank.
“When told that it had been reported that he hit someone’s house with his truck, [Morin] reported that he didn’t believe that he hit anyone’s house,” affidavits said. “Morin advised that he had a drink at ‘noon time’ and also took a sleeping pill (Ambien) at [1 p.m.]”
Morin allegedly failed standardized field sobriety tests, losing his balance and swaying forward and backwards. He was arrested and transported to the Westminster State Police barracks for processing on suspicion of DUI.
Back at the scene of the alleged hit-and-run, troopers documented damage to a stone wall, a wooden fence, a window, a tree and the front porch. Surveillance footage showed a truck leave the roadway and hit the property. The road was dry and free of debris in the area of the collision.
“Investigation revealed that Morin left the roadway, crossed a sidewalk, took out a stone wall and wooden fence as well as part of the front porch,” affidavits said. “Due to the collision with the front porch, a window was broken and glass was shattered inside the occupied dwelling.”
Curtis Pellerin, the homeowner’s son, said he ran outside after the collision, yelling at the driver before chasing him to the Sunoco station where Morin was arrested.
“I jumped in my truck and ran him down and cut him off from getting on the interstate,” he said in a sworn affidavit. “He pulled into the gas station. I parked my truck so he couldn’t drive off. I then took the keys out of his truck and called 911, gave his truck key to the first trooper on scene.”
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