BOSTON, March 20, 2015— A Winthrop woman was sent for a mental health evaluation at her arraignment today on charges she was drunk and had children in her vehicle when she drove onto a sidewalk and struck a pedestrian, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
CERISSE BOMARSI (D.O.B. 11/23/77) was arraigned in East Boston Municipal Court on charges of operating under the influence, possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, operating to endanger, marked lane violation, and two counts each of child endangerment and child endangerment while operating under the influence. Judge Debra Shoptease ordered Bomarsi to undergo a mental health evaluation and imposed bail of $5,000 with orders that she remain alcohol free subject to random testing and stay away and have no contact with the victim.
Assistant District Attorney Janine D’Amico told the court that Winthrop Police received a 911 call regarding an erratic driver in the area of Main and Revere streets at approximately 3:45 p.m. yesterday. While officers were en route to the location, they learned that the vehicle had struck a pedestrian.
Once there, officers located the pedestrian – a 62-year-old Winthrop woman who had been thrown by the force of the crash and landed underneath a parked vehicle in a Revere Street parking lot. She was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with cuts to her face and significant injuries to her legs.
When officers attempted to speak with Bomarsi as she sat in the driver’s seat of the gray minivan that struck the victim, they detected the strong odor of alcohol and noted that her speech was extremely slurred, prosecutors said. When officers asked if she needed medical attention, Bomarsi allegedly told them repeatedly to “take it easy.”
After the third time officers asked Bomarsi for her driver’s license, she reached into her purse, retrieved an unopened nip bottle of Smirnoff, and attempted to open the bottle. Officers took the alcohol from her and retrieve Bomarsi’s license from her purse after she handed it to police.
Officers at the scene observed a 6-year-old female and a 6-month-old male who were properly restrained and uninjured in the van’s back seat. The children were transported to the Winthrop Police station and released to the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
Believing the Bomarsi presented a danger to herself and the two children, officers attempted to remove her from the vehicle. She allegedly became combative with officers and needed to be lifted from the van in order to be handcuffed and placed on a stretcher. She was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital.
Inside the vehicle, officers located two Smirnoff nip bottles – one empty and the other nearly empty – on the floor by the driver’s seat. Three empty vodka nip bottles and two empty Red Bull cans were found under the front passenger seat.
Multiple witnesses told police that they saw the gray minivan crossing over the center line and nearly striking other vehicles before coming to a stop in the middle of the road. The van then unexpectedly accelerated through a red light at the intersection of Main and Revere streets and drove onto the sidewalk, striking a tree, then the victim, and finally a second tree before coming to a stop.
Bomarsi was represented by William Gens. She returns to court April 6.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
