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BY ABBY FOX
A combination of rain showers, drunk driving and a curve in the road at London and Main Streets appear to have caused the death of one Johnston resident and the serious injuries of his passenger, near 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
Robert Tellez, 38, of Calumet Street in Johnston and Dina Paquin, also 38, of Westwood Manor Drive in Providence, had gone to the beaches at Quonset Point Friday, then to karaoke night at the Kingstown Bowl in North Kingstown.
Tellez was driving a blue 2003 Honda, that was registered to Paquin’s stepfather, and was headed north on Main Street, when he lost control at a curve in the road at London Street, knocked down a tree, drove through the parking lot of the East Greenwich Farms convenience store and hit a concrete retaining wall, which “caused the vehicle to spin away from the wall while overturning, coming to rest adjacent to the building,” according to an East Greenwich police press release. Police responded to the accident at 1:45 in the morning and pronounced Tellez dead at the scene. Tuesday, the Medical Examiners Office confirmed the cause of death was blunt impact injuries.
“We suspect high speed was certainly a factor,” Det. Lt. Tom Marcello said, but didn’t have an exact speed to report. A wet road was another, as the accident happened during a rain storm, he said.
As of Tuesday, Detective Pat Trainor and Patrolman Jimmy Woodward were continuing their accident reconstruction, Marcello said. And at this point, the extent to which alcohol was a contributing factor hasn’t been confirmed.
The license of Tellez was under suspension, police said. “He obviously shouldn’t have been driving,” Marcello said.
Tellez and Paquin were in a “dating relationship,” according to police. “We heard reports they might have been fighting; that’s at least partially accurate,” Marcello said, based on witness accounts at the bar.
The crash was made worse by Tellez not wearing a seatbelt – he was partially ejected out the rear of the car, Marcello said. His passenger, though, was wearing a seatbelt and suffered “a number of relatively serious injuries,” he said, although didn’t name any specifically. She was trapped in the vehicle and had to be taken out by personnel and transported to Rhode Island Hospital, the press release stated. The hospital on Tuesday defined her condition as serious.
A complete report of the accident investigation is expected by the end of the week, he said.
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