Driver Charged in Alleged OUI Collision with Scooter

BOSTON, November 20, 2018— An East Boston woman has been charged with drunk driving in connection with a weekend crash that left a scooter operator critically injured, Suffolk County District Attorney John P. Pappas said.

MARCELLA CASTIELLO, 32, of East Boston was arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court on charges of operating under the influence of liquor causing serious injury, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and a marked lanes violation. Judge Tracy-Lee Lyons imposed bail of $1,000 – the same amount Castiello had posted following her arrest early Sunday morning – and ordered Castiello not to drive while her case is pending.

The investigation by State Police investigators assigned to the Suffolk County Detective Unit and Troop H suggests that Castiello was behind the wheel of a black Mercedes Benz in the area of Frontage Road and Kneeland Street when she struck the scooter at approximately 2:15 a.m. Sunday. Castiello remained on scene after the crash. Her vehicle sustained damage to the front end and windshield, and there were noodles and Chinese food stuck to the windshield and along the vehicle.

The victim – a 39-year-old man – was transported to Tufts Medical Center with critical injuries.

While speaking with State Police, Troopers noted that Castiello’s speech was slurred and detected an odor of alcohol as she spoke. Castiello allegedly made statements that she had consumed “one drink” while celebrating at a restaurant prior to the crash and that the scooter operator “must have been drinking” and swerved into her lane. She failed a series of field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest.

Video of the crash captured by a Department of Transportation camera shows Castiello’s Mercedes traveling at a high rate of speed in the right travel lane of Frontage Road and passing by other vehicles. The Mercedes struck the moped from behind, throwing the victim onto the vehicle’s windshield and into the air before he landed on the roadway. Castiello’s vehicle then drove over the scooter, causing visible sparks, before coming to a stop 50 yards from the scooter’s resting place.

Castiello returns to court Feb. 2.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.