A Cranston man who injured five people in a drunk-driving crash that occurred on Wellington Avenue a year ago pled nolo contendere in Superior Court this week and was sentenced to 10 years, with five years to serve at the ACI.

On Monday Providence County Superior Court Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer accepted the plea of Kyle B. Josephson (case ID #: P2-2008-0329A; DOB: 1-27-67), 41, of 35 Greenwood St. in Cranston, to six of the 10 felony counts that the State had charged: two counts of DUI-serious bodily injury resulting and four counts of reckless driving-personal injury resulting. The State dismissed three counts of DUI-serious bodily injury resulting (first offense) and one count of reckless driving-personal injury resulting in exchange for Josephson’s plea. The defendant, who had been out on surety bail since his first court appearance last October, was immediately remanded to the ACI to begin serving his sentence.

Had the case gone to trial, Assistant Attorney General Jay Sullivan, who is Rhode Island’s Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, would have presented the following evidence:

q At about 6:30 PM on Oct. 16, 2007, Josephson, traveling southbound on Wellington Avenue with three passengers in his 2005 Saturn SUV, struck a car attempting to turn left onto Wellington from the Milford Street Bridge. The impact sent the second vehicle, whose four occupants were not seriously injured, south into Wellington’s northbound lane and caused Josephson’s car to cross into the oncoming lane and crash head on into a 1998 Toyota sedan that was driven by a 63-year-old Cranston woman.

q The driver of the second car told police that Josephson’s car was “flying” down Wellington Avenue, in a 25 MPH zone, before the collision. Cranston Police accident reconstructionists later estimated that Josephson was traveling 68 MPH at the time of impact. Josephson, who showed signs of intoxication when Cranston Police and Fire personnel arrived, failed field sobriety tests administered at the scene. A Department of Health analysis later determined his blood alcohol content to be .141 percent, almost twice the State’s legal limit. Josephson and his friends had been seen at a nearby bar drinking beer and shots of Jagermeister earlier that day.

q The woman driving the Toyota suffered multiple compound fractures in her arms and legs. Her then-13-year-old granddaughter suffered two broken legs and a fractured jaw. Josephson’s front-seat passenger sustained a broken leg. One of his back-seat passengers sustained a broken leg and a broken hip and the other suffered a serious laceration to his forehead.

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Please note: The Cranston Police Department has several copies of the surveillance video of the crash for media distribution.

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