BANGOR, Maine — The Brewer woman arrested Wednesday night in connection with a fatal hit-and-run on Main Street earlier this month told police at first that she thought she hit a dog, Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts said Thursday.
“That was her initial story, but she didn’t stick with it very long,” he said.
Under an agreement with the district attorney’s office, Patricia Giles, 51, surrendered to authorities at the Bangor police station on Wednesday night and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Class C felony, and falsifying evidence.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony charge.
Authorities say Giles hit Joshua R. Constantine, 37, of Bangor, a longtime employee of a downtown business, as he crossed Main Street near the entrance to Shaw’s supermarket around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 2.
Constantine, an employee of Herbal Tea & Tobacco, was killed instantly.
Giles’ silver 2000 Pontiac Bonneville didn’t stop and didn’t brake, Roberts said.
The next day, Bangor police got a tip that Giles was involved and went to her residence on North Main Street in Brewer and found the car in the garage.
Giles “tried to remove the damaged windshield from the vehicle,” which is why she was charged with falsifying evidence, Roberts said.
“Ultimately, she acknowledged to the Bangor Police Department that she hit someone and then panicked,” Roberts said.
Giles was not immediately arrested because “she’s a longtime member of the community, she owns property in the area, and was not considered a flight risk,” the deputy district attorney said. “There was no reason to make an arrest until the investigation was complete.”
She has a couple of misdemeanors on her record but nothing serious, Roberts said.
The night Constantine was hit, the Zac Brown Band was performing on the waterfront. A friend and fellow employee said he believes Constantine had stopped by the show and was heading toward his home on Patten Street when he was hit.
“Our family is mourning the loss of our best friend and brother,” the Herbal Tea & Tobacco Facebook page states.
The company’s Facebook page was updated earlier this month to feature photos of Constantine.
He is survived by his daughter, Kaya, described as “the light of his life” in his obituary in the Bangor Daily News.
Giles was taken to the Penobscot County Jail and bail later was set at $10,000 unsecured, Sgt. Paul Edwards said. She spent about two hours in jail and was released on $60 personal recognizance bail, a jail official said.
Giles is scheduled to have her first court appearance Sept. 12.
Disgusting, cant believe someone at her age would run. A few years ago my grandmother was walking home and was hit in Old Town and the driver ran. Luckily my gram made it out with only a shattered knee, this poor man was not so lucky. I hope she gets a punishment that fits the crime.
Well, the guy that hit her prob’ly had presents to deliver ………….
I going to pray that everything is alright with her and that God will give her peace within… This is a sad story for all involved. An accident is what it is.
But running was a choice
It might have started out as an accident but she LEFT on purpose….
She isn’t being charged for hitting him. She’s charged with leaving him lying in the middle of the road dead or dying. And apparently trying to hide it afterwards. I hope God has given Joshua peace.
Would’ve been great if god could’ve stepped in a little earlier and kept his daughter from growing up without a Dad.
Absolutely correct my daughter lost her dad at a young age and missed alot not having him, even though we have survived it isn’t fair.
The hit was an accident. The run was a deliberate choice. As was the choice to not reconsider and turn herself in. As was the choice to falsify evidence.
It’s sad, but please don’t pray for the criminal.
An accident yes, running God will never forgive.
Not an accident — a crash. The pedestrian caused it by walking or running in front of her. Now if it isn’t foreseeable that you will be struck by a car you’re in front of, I don’t know what is…
I’ve noticed you like to argue the whole “accident” use on this page a lot. An accident does NOT have to be unforeseen, just unintentional.
When you walk in front of moving vehicles, it can be foreseen that you will be hit and possibly die. Talk with any competent transportation official, and you will understand why it’s called a “crash,” not an accident.
After seeing you repeatedly refute anyone who uses the term accident, I wonder if you could please provide a scenerio, involving a vehicle, that meets YOUR criteria for an accident.
Were you a witness to this? If not, how can you be certain the pedestrian caused the accident? He didn’t necessarily walk or run out in front of her car. It’s quite possible he was halfway across the street, she was driving over the posted 25mph limit, not paying attention and/or impaired. Unless of course you were a witness and so you might actually know for a fact that Mr. Constantine caused this. Blame shouldn’t be placed until all the facts are in.
It would seem by your comments that you were there and saw that Josh knew a car was coming at him and he chose to walk in front of it (crash)…Could it be just as safe to say that when Josh looked to cross the street that he saw nothing and proceeded accordingly and the car came up fast and hit a person crossing the street (without a crosswalk) and then proceeded to leave him there…an ACCIDENT until she left him there?
Cars don’t appear out of thin air.
The bottom line is the pedestrian broke the law when he walked into five lanes of traffic at night without using a crosswalk or traffic light giving him the right-of-way. The bulk of responsibility for what happened to him was his.
or you
Actually, there is NO sin God will “never” forgive. If this lady asks God for forgiveness, He will grant her request. The dead man’s family on the other hand, might not be so forgiving.
the accident part went away when she left the man in the road, god should not forgive that. Sorry now she deserves what ever she gets.
glad you’re not God……
Horrible tragedy, unacceptable decision to drive off though IMHO…..
I’m glad they finally nailed her. She deserves a LONG prison sentence.
I am glad they finally charged her but this sentence that she is being charged only carries 6 months, which a female she is, she is looking at 30 days all suspended
If that is the end result then it would be yet another example of the Maine justice system’s complete disregard for victims who have died due to the actions of another.
dkenzie is right. The problem with the Maine justice system is that there remains a gender bias.
According to the police, the guy died instantly. His act of walking in front of traffic caused his death.
Blaming the victim? Nice. What happened to watching the road and stopping if you think you hit something?
Did he not cross without a crosswalk — breaking the law — and walk in front of traffic?
He is dead. He may not have been in the crosswalk, Hence he was jaywalking. She left the scene of an acident. He is dead, he paid the ultimate price for his actions. She has yet to pay hers. I am sure if she had paid attention, she would not have hit him.
I’m pretty sure the car smashing into him may have had something to do with it also.
family will nail her on a civil suit.
no
more likely her insurance carrier.
If the family sues- the Jury will believe that she is suing Ms.Giles. The Jury, then ,can sympathize w/Ms. Giles , and award less than may have been lost , thinking ” I could not afford to pay such-and-such amount if I were her, and the family would get a minimal amount from the insurance company.
If the Jury is told that one is suing the insurance company rather than the driver… the Judge will throw it out of Court and call a mistrial!
This was the case for a woman in Hancock County who was hit by a drunk driver and had an exponential amount of medical bills. Because the economy was in a slump the Jury felt for the Driver and awarded her less than she had paid JUST IN MEDICAL bills (not to mention pain,suffering and other personal losses she suffered ) because they were believing she was suing the Driver as opposed to the Insurance Company ( they always win , don’t they ? ) !!
I settled out of court from a hit-and-run ( by a Canadian trucker ) because I could have gotten less had I gone to Court and had a Jury believe I was suing his Insurance Company -and only got back what it had cost me for loss of wages and medical bills .
So- let’s just keep giving MORE power to Insurance Companies and their Big Business and PAC monies !!
Well, you kind of went on and on there. The point I was trying to make is that when a claim is made against the driver it will be her insurance carrier, assuming she has insurance, that will be “nailed” inasmuch as it’s the insurance carrier that has to pay for her defense and indemnification within the coverage limits of the policy.
For what? According to the police, the man died instantly. He was jaywalking. Absent any evidence that the woman deliberately drove at him, what is there to sue for?
not a very long sentence, to short as far as a lot of us are concerned, but even 30 locked up in a cell would be enough for me to walk the straight and arrow for the rest of my life, lets hope she feels the same when she has her time.
Initial court date in SEPTEMBER? WOW!!!
She is got the classic look of a deer caught in the headlights. Accidents happen, but running from the scene is a personal decision that she flunked. Let the law take it’s course.
You are 99% correct. It would have been 100% if you had said “an intoxicated deer”.
what did she do to falsify evidence? Why isn’t it vehicular manslaughter? I would like to know what she said to police for a reason to do something so vile.
Good question. I was wondering the same thing.
vile. good choice of words.
Typical BDN…. It wasn’t Memorial Day Weekend.. Zach Brown was the following weekend. COUNTRY THROW DOWN was Memorial Day Weekend.. Who the heck edits the ignorant reporting….?? JUST SAYN’..
Didn’t this occur the night of the Zac Brown concert? That was June 2, which was NOT Memorial Day weekend. Not a truly important detail, but an inaccuracy in the reporting for sure.
It wasn’t over Memorial Day Weekend, since the Zac Brown Concert was June 3rd and Memorial Weekend was May 26th – 28th
that’s twice the BDN has gotten the date of this accident wrong. the first article back on June 3rd reported that the accident was going to happen the following Monday. eh – it’s only details.
Hey, they’re getting closer! They now have it happening on June 2nd, but since it happened during the Zac Brown Concert, it’s STILL June 3rd. But hey, what’s a 24 hour period?
The date is the least of the problem a young man,son,father was killed regardless the date and the coward ran until she was cornered.
Heartless, just plain heartless.
Not
Not heartless to kill someone with your car and then run off to try to avoid paying for the crime? Wow. You sound disturbed jmds82.
Wow, someone dies and her initial court appearance is in September. What is up with that? Let me guess she did not know she hit someone with her car?
Who is this woman? Any other person in a similar situation in a BDN news article is typically “tarred and feathered.”
I am shocked at her age, BDN led everyone to believe it was a YOUNG woman who’s parents were out of town when this happened. There is no excuse to hit someone and run.
That is because everytime anyone said that it was not a teenage girl it was removed. People mentioned that the people who owned the house were named giles it was removed. The nieghbors commented that there were no teenagers in this house it was removed.You would think at 51 you would not live with your parents,so people assumed it was a teenager.Possible it is easier for people to believe it was a teen then to picture an adult acting so inmature.
Inmature?
Three years ago my wife received the devastating news that she had breast cancer. Some people may or may not know that Patty Giles cuts hair for a living. I’m not excusing what has happened-a poor choice was allegedly made, however-of all of the support my wife was offered- none was more genuine and kind than what Patty provided. As she has done many times in the past, she went to the hospital and shaved my wife’s head with the utmost compassion and caring-no charge. Before she had surgery Patty provided a care package of lotions and other gifts to ease the pain. Before any of you decide what kind of person she is you may want to do a little homework.
Again, no excuse for leaving the scene. What you have here is a really good person, who allegedly made a very bad choice.
To westshores:
It is hard to reconcile someone we think to be a “good” person when they go and do something incomprehensible. In my experience, few human beings are all good or all bad, but complex individuals, and in the right circumstances capable of both great kind works and terrible cruelty. I have no idea what the true story is here (and from the story and the comments, no one else does either), and only time will tell us what happened. My sympathies to all involved, especially the young man’s family, friends, and co-workers; a sad, sad tragedy.
westshores, thank you for adding your perspective. The situation is tragic without demonizing Ms. Giles, and she will suffer the consequences. Only the people who know her have anything like the right to pronounce judgement on her character.
No, that’s not true. Totally fair to pronounce judgment if she is indeed guilty of this crime.
So rigid about life and it all has to be black and white.
“Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.”
-Wayne Dyer
She may have not used sound reasoning that night but it does not make her an ‘evil’ person or someone not worthy of redemption.
Uh no, not at all. In fact, as bad as leaving the scene is (and it is terrible), it is the fact that she continued to hide from what she did, “falsified evidence” and never turned herself in that causes me to judge. You mention a lack “sound reasoning that night” is not enough to judge, but what about the unsound reasoning the next night and the night after that?
It didn’t go on night after night.
I am not sticking up for this Woman, she did make a terrible choice. I would just like to ask if anyone here has ever hit anyone? Every person is not the same, some aren’t as panic prone or anxious. Who knows what was going through her mind when this happened? Again, I am not sticking up for her and feel horrible for this mans family.
My cousin hit and killed someone at night that was on a skateboard and she didn’t take off. She hit him the same day she found out she was pregnant with her first child. She could’ve run off, but chose to stay and take responsibility for it. Isn’t this what we try to teach our children – to take responsibility for our actions? I don’t care if she was a good person – she couldn’t have been that great of a human if she took off and left a man to die alone in the street. I’m sorry if anyone take offense…
None at all. I’m just saying, everyone here thinks they know everything. These are the types of responses I am looking for. Thought out and educated. It gets old with the typical “let them rot” “kill them” “die!” “prob an Obama supporter” comments.
I know exactly what you mean. It is nice to have others on here with any kind of intelligence. I really dislike making comments to stories and see the things you just noted mattOT.
Sorry for your loss. I had a cousin that was the victim of a hit and run in the 70’s. They never found that driver. At least this woman has been found and perhaps the truth will be learned soon.
She could have turned herself in the next day…
or better yet she could have stayed at the scene and tried to show some of her compassion for the person she killed
You raise a good point. She says that she panicked. Well how long does panic last? Usually no more than a few hours. After that it becomes something else. And not only did she not turn herself in, it took a good Samaritan to make an anonymous tip. Someone else pointed out the possibility of drinking before the “accident.” I hope the police check with folks at Geaghan’s Pub (since that is on her Facebook page) and Raena’s Pub is another spot to check out.
There not gonna admit to her being drunk because they can be liable for letting her drive herself drunk.
Exactly. I could (not saying I would) forgive a momentary panicked act of stupidity. But the subsequent actions say everything about her character…
Does it matter what she was thinking, rather she would get jail time,who’s hair sh had to do tomorrow or I’m late getting home? She hit a human being and killed him, no matter what you stop and take the consequences. How would she feel if this was her family member that was hit and killed? she wouldn’t be very happy they just drove off now would she?
Agree totally, and keep in mind that there would be no criminal consequences if it was truly just and accident.
The charges filed have nothing to do with whether the crash was accidental or not, rather what she did afterward.
That was my point exactly.
Yes, but once your panic has worn off, do you wait for the police to come knocking at your door like she did? Or do you go to the police station and say, “I think I may have hit someone last night?” It is a very real possibility that if someone had not tipped off the police, that she never would have stepped forward. There is a difference between initial panic and purposely trying to cover up a crime.
I accidentally hit a man riding his bicycle a year ago. Instantly, I panicked, threw my car into park and jumped out to make sure he was okay. My thought wasn’t for myself or the consequences; it was ‘is this man okay.’ Luckily, he was okay and walked away with only a bump to his leg and elbow. It never crossed my mind to drive off and leave him there. Even when I could see that he had gotten back up and was getting his bike. She may have been a very nice lady but to drive off and leave a person injured is beyond me. What if actions she took could have saved his life? What is this hadn’t happened in downtown Bangor and no one had seen her vehicle…would she have ever come forward? We all hold responsibility for the choices we make, walking out into traffic, riding our bike on the wrong side of the road, driving to fast, not paying attention, etc. Either way, she left a nice, young man, a father dying in the middle of a street. And even after her panic persuaded her to drive off, she never admitted what she had done until the police came for her. Have many of you forgotten that?
The article states that even when the police came to question her, she lied about it, stating she thought she hit a dog. What kind of person would “think” they hit a dog, even, and drive away without stopping to find out the consequence?! Never mind knowing they hit a human being and failed to stop and try to help the victim. Obviously she did not want to be held accountable for her actions, or she would have “fessed up” immediately.
Obviously we all know that people are not all good or all bad – we also know that “good people” make bad choices and that appears to be the case here. I would imagine now what a lot of people are struggling with is if she is a good person, why hit and run in the first place? If she is a good person, why not turn yourself in earlier than 2 weeks after the fact? I would imagine that as the investigation and trial continue we will learn more, and I truly hope that for her sake (as well as the people that know and love her) there will be some explanation that can explain how a “good person” could do such a horrible thing they are saying that she did.
If it was simply a bad choice made in a moment of panic, she would have turned herself in right away. Instead, she allegedly tried to conceal the crime (falsifying evidence). That says more than the initial “mistake”….
That is just making excuses for her, she killed a son and a father. No excuse can be made for that regardless of how nice she has been to other people.
Thank you for your comment. She also does my hair and we’ve become quite close. This was an accident and then a bad decision. I’ll always know the compassion she has shown to my family and think kindly of her. She is suffering too, perhaps not in the same way as this man’s family….but my intention is to demonstrate to her all the compassion that I would want given the same circumstances. People that don’t demonstrate mercy are certain that they will never need it….
It might have been accident followed by a criminal act(bad decision). We will never know if it was truly an accident or manslaughter. When she left the scene she could no longer be tested for drugs and alcohol. By the way robbing a bank or say manslaughter are bad decisions too.
If she hit Your Child and left them lying in the road while she drove home and tampered with the evidence, would you feel as kindly toward her? It is much easier when it is someone else’s child isn’t it?
I have 2 sons and I want to be who God wants me to be in every situation…..so I want to have a heart like Christ and forgive….
It is not my place to forgive her actions. That is up to God alone.
Not so… 7 x 70
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven timesWestsider95, It is for us to forgive….
Well said. All prisons and jails can now be emptied. Court dates can be cleared out. And victims one through 77 can be thrown into the ground and forgotten.
Let’s not get ridiculous. God never says there won’t be consequences and I’m not saying that either. Sheesh!
Ms. Giles will suffer no criminal consequences for vehicular manslaughter. Ms. Giles will suffer no criminal consequences for impaired driving. Please tell me, does your God say that is ridiculous?
You’re obviously not getting the answers you want here. The consequences are not going to be what you would have them be if you were in control…..However there will be consequences…I suppose you should contact your legislator if they displease you….
I’d be wondering why the fudge they were walking in the middle of the gaddam street.
No one should judge ANYONE until they go through the something… What she did was a tragic thing but no one knows what it is like until your in that person’s shoes.
Josh was probably knocked out of his shoes. Do you want to walk in those ones?
Three years ago my husband and I were in a similar accident , a boy (16) basiclly ran into the side of our car.The boy flew over our car and landed about twenty feet from the car,he started to have a siezure, he had hit his head we thaught he would die. the first thing we did was try to help him as our daughters ( 15 & 17) ran to a local store to call 911. So yes i will judge her because in the same situation we did all we could to save this boys life. Our first thought was not ourselve it was for the boys life. Thankfully the boy is alive and well, it could have gone either way. I wonder does this women have children and grandchildren , what kind of example is this for them.
I love that quote “”people who don’t demonstrate mercy are certain that they will never need it “”
When this woman hit a human being and left him lying in the road his daughter later received the devastating news that her father was dead. Has Patty visited Josh’s daughter or provided her with a care package of lotions? Perhaps a gift basket of tissues to dry her tears would be more appropriate.
Released on $60 personal recognizance bail… That’s the same cost as a “Crime Scene Body Bag” on Wholesale USA Body Bags. Since when does being known for a “long time in the community” essentially trump arrest and bail?
To hit someone with a 2,000+ object and just drive away? This is a good person? My dead friend WAS a good person!
For some reason unknown to me, many of these posters are eager dismiss Josh’s life as irrelevant. They have no clue as to the level of kindness and compassion with which he treated EveryOne. Patty demonstrated that she saves her compassion only for those who provide her livelihood, and the rest of us are just Road Bumps.
Why did the Bangor Daily News delete ALL other comments that had a lot more “likes”, however were NOT written in defense of this lady as Westshores were?
This leaves people who reach this page and the remaining comments to believe most posters are in the belief that this lady made a “small” error in her judgement and didn’t “intend” to circumvent the law and flee the scene of the “crime”. Really, BDN, what are you trying to cover up???
Yeah, no posts of mine are on here. And they have buried the story.CONNECTED.
Apparently, 27 people agree
Lots of people like pot. I thought there would be more.
I know this woman and saw her on Saturday as she casually cut someone’s hair … I’m not saying whether she is guilty or not as I don’t know the facts and do pray that they will come out but I am absolutely disgusted that knowing what she did she could continue on in such a casual fashion. So very tragic for this man, his family and friends. I do hope justice is served. It may have been an accident but she had a choice…sick to my stomach disgusted!!
Accidents happen, she paniced and freaked out. How many of you have been in this situation? How do you know how you would react if you were? Stop passing judgement on a situation and person you know very little about. Yes, it’s a tragedy what happened, but even if it is 2 weeks later, she still turned herself in. That speaks more highly of her than the previous. It takes a lot of courage, especially after so long to step up and say “yes, i did it”.
Yes, accidents do happen, and yes she “freaked out”…. But, I would like to think more of us than not would not have left the scene to begin with. With that being said, yes she turned herself in, but why wait the 2 weeks? Why not go in the next morning? I don’t know the answers to these questions, and I don’t know if any of us here do… But just a couple of questions to throw out there…
I also don’t know the answer to this either, but throwing it out… It is possible that they were “closing in” on a suspect and she figured she better turn herself in than take the chance of them actually figuring out she was the one that did it?
Hey, I’m not sticking up for the woman, but we shouldn’t demonize her either. She made a terrible choice under terrible circumstances. How do you know for an absolute FACT that you or someone you know and love would not have done the same in her situation? Some people aren’t as panicy as others, and I agree, I believe most people would have stuck around, but we have no idea what the conditions are, maybe he ran out in front of her trying to get across and she didn’t have time to stop, who knows, not me, not you. DOn’t judge her until you know the whole story. Which at this point, no one does but her.
It seems to be the society that we live in … people believe they are above anything bad happening to them. It’s also a problem with the self righteousness behavior many who make comments here have.
I’ve lived a long time and I know anything can happen to anyone in this world, sometimes it does for many of us.
She demonized herself when she left Mr. Constantine dying in the street and drove off to save her own skin….
I makes no difference whose fault the accident was, she was guilty when she left Josh behind and ran home. She did not turn herself in freely. The police already knew she did it. Even if they find out that Josh was drunk or whatever, it wouldn’t change one thing. She demonized herself when she left the scene and opened herself up for speculation because of it. If she had stayed, there would be no speculation. RIP Josh.
Easy to say that people shouldnt pass judgement or demonize when it isnt personal to you. I would be willing to bet if this had happened to your family your words would be different. And even though I replied to you, I am really saying this to all.
Right is right. Wrong is wrong. One of the problems with our justice system is that is has become so polluted with grays. In this case, hitting the man MAY have been a true accident, but running away was not. There is no gray area in the choice that she made, and continued to make until she was forced into a corner. And she WAS forced into a corner if this article is correct.
The person who made the comment about their grandmother’s saying, on true character comes out when no one is looking, was absolutely spot on. How many times have you known or read about people, that appeared in public to be a wonderful person, behind everyones back when they thought no one was looking, they kicked their dog, or abused their children or hit their wife? How many times have you seen that, heard it,read it, known someone who lived with it? One only needs to look to the recent cases of abuse in the church or boy scouts to find them. Look at the football coach who ‘helped lost and needy boys’….I could cite many cases. They were nice people doing nice things too…. when the public was looking.
My 16 year old cousin was killed in a car accident very similar to this one and we passed no judgement on the person until the exact circumstances were known, so yes, I CAN SAY IT.
Sorry, they were not closing in as they had already spoken to her, taken her for a blood test, and retrieved the car. Remember they said she was cooperating with the police. Not defending this at all, but think about what you already know of the case before you make assumptions. Just saying.
She turned herself in after she was caught. The choice was be arrested at your home or come to the PD and turn yourself in. Let’s not make her out to be a hero here.
Not at all what I was trying to say. Just we should not pass judgement. Not our place, we know not what happened exactly. What she did was wrong, I’ve said that 3 times now on here. But I don’t believe it’s our job to demonize this woman for what’s happened until we know the whole story. The accident may or may not have been her fault, but either way she should have stayed there, I agree with this 100%. She’s far from a hero. And I have no idea where you get I was even trying to imply such. Again, only that we should not pass judgement on her as of yet. Unless you were in her situation, you don’t know if you would have done the same or not. That’s all I’ve said.
She didn’t “turn herself in after two weeks” …law enforcement has known who she is and where she was since the accident.
No she was a coward not to stay and take what was to come.
Lol freaked out enough to be charged also with falsifying evidence, she had the sence to try and hide it.
I have never been in that situation and I never want to be. I can’t imagine what she is dealing with. That being said, there is NO excuse in the world to hit another human being, knowingly, and continue off like it never happened. Maybe that man could have been saved had she stopped immediately. Maybe not. Regardless, she gets no sympathies from me now. And it took her 2 weeks to go back? Okay, I might have even been able to excuse it if, in the heat of panic, she continued to drive on, scared, and then returned an hour or so later in horror of what she had done. She didn’t. As another poster put it, she’s a coward.
I’m sure she “turned herself in ” on the advice of her Attorney !
good lawyer?
“and falsifying evidence”
…this can’t help her case……to freak out and run away is one thing….to try and cover it up after that fact is something totally different…..good hearted woman or not….I hope she gets what she deserves…
After reading the many comments on here both good and bad, for and against, this woman, i hope that she also reads these comments. I pray that the conscience is eating at her now so that she is willing to try to make ammends and admit her faults and do whatever it takes to make ammends to the family of Mr. Constantine. No Plea deals, no pleading not guilty. Just admit what you did was wrong, serve your prison sentence and spend the rest of your life working to make sure this never happens to anyone else. That is the only way i could believe you are not some evil person that left a young man to die alone with no heart at all.
After al this time perhaps she is taking the wrap for somone else? An awful lot of rumors af it being someone underage..
She co operated the next day, not taking the wrap for someone else? …There are no underage living in the house.
That would be rap, not wrap.
Well thanks for the correction on spelling, Nice to see you are checking this for me
I only do it occasionally. I had a teacher in elementary school who was a real “demon” on correct spelling. Her influence that way is still with me over four decades later and sadly to say, the comment sections of the BDN offer a target rich environment. Aren’t there any REAL English teachers out there any more?
What is happening now
Life, as always.
Sorry repeating myself Age thing
That would be rap, not wrap.
Key word…RUMOR
If she is taking the rap for this for an underage person then she is more stupid then I first thought. A juvenile would have gotten off a lot easier than an adult.
Have any of you been in this situation or anything similar? Well I can sit here and say that I have. I did not strike the pedestrian, another vehicle did. It was the most traumatizing event in my entire life. I can sit here and say that the person who struck the pedestrian and myself remained at the scene, both called 911. We remained at the scene for 7 hours, rode in the same cruiser to the police station for breathazers for alcohol and tests for drug use. We sat in the same cruiser, same interview room unspoken, broken, scared and traumatized. I can’t speak for the driver involved in our incident but I can speak for myself. I am still ridden with the event, it has been a long time yet it feels like yesterday. I still have visions, hear the crash, see the body and have nightmares. I myself avoid the road at all cost. Again I sit here and say that I did not and would NEVER leave a human being lying in the road. This is unspeakable.
If you didn’t hit the person why were you given a breathalyzer test or a blood test?
As I said it was protocol, standard proceedure. I did not hit the pedestrian. The pedestrian was struck and thrown in the middle of the road where I was stopped at a light. Everyone involved was asked to do so therefore everyone involved agreed to whatever they were asked to do.
May God be with you and help you through your trauma.
She should be tried on the evidence we have-direct and circumstantial- and given an appropriate sentence. I assume that she will take a deal as she turned herself in.
“Tips from the public led us to finding her,” Edwards said…….So how did she basically turn herself in?
If Mother Theresa hit a person with her car and left them dying in the road she would no longer be viewed as a Saint.
If Mother Teresa had hit a person with her car and driven away I would no longer consider her to be a Saint.
It’s when people change their stories that they say more than if they told the truth up front.
Better to invoke your privilege and say nothing than to lie and start changing your story.
I am willing to bet that your comments were removed because they make assumptions that are not fact. You don’t know if she was or wasn’t.
That is the point. If she had nothing to hide, why did she run? Therefore, due to her actions, I will assume that she did have something to hide, or rather sleep off.
You can assume anything you want….you could be right and you are just as likely that you could be wrong. I know it doesn’t matter in your world but she may have just panicked. But here is a secret…only she knows why she ran so speculate all you want.
What would you know about my world? A kind, sweet man who brought soup to sick neighbors has been killed and all I hear is that poor Patty made a mistake. Yes she did and a man, father, son, grandson, brother and friend is dead. She can have forgiveness in Heaven. On Earth, she should pay for her crime. Josh’s life was valuable. AND HE WOULD HAVE NEVER EVER DRIVEN AWAY!
Excuse me but where did I say Josh’ life was not valuable? Where did I make an excise for the driver? Where did I day she shouldn’t pay for what she did?
All I said was we don’t know (and will never know) why she decided to drive away. May she was impaired? Maybe she had no insurance? Maybe she panicked? I don’t know and neither do you. And that is ALL my post said.
It really doesn’t matter why she drove away. What matters us she did and by doing so allowed another person to die…alone…in the street. So does it reallyatter why she drove away…?
So far she has “paid” with $60 and a couple of hours. It appears that she will probably ultimately “pay” with a suspended sentence.
So why does it matter why she drove away? How much did that person pay for doing to Jordan Bakley what Ms. Giles did to Joshua Constantine? That is why it really matters why she drove away.
Everyone is entitled to bail.
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Freedom of speech has nothing to do with comments here. It’s the BDN’s paper, and they can allow or delete anything they want. However, I have to agree with your point about a lot of perfectly reasonable, inoffensive, and non inflammatory posts being removed here today. It’s ridiculous.
Article should read( on advice of her attorney she changed her story) . This ones going to be interesting to follow, she has already gotten special treatment from the DA.
$60. personal recognizance for hitting and killing a man, leaving the scene and falsifying evidence?
Something is wrong.
2 hours in jail. poor thing. Dont worry dear you wount get any jail time.
this lady hit someone,killed them. and then took off,and tried to alter the truth. no matter who she is she is a criminal and should be treated as such.
I TOTALLY AGREE!!! Someone has got to be kidding. This is ridulous, really
So you hit someone. You panic and drive away. At some point (sooner than later, even if you’re drunk – which I’m not saying she was…) panic wears off and you realize that you are in a deep creek full of trouble. If you are well connected in the community, one would expect that you know an attorney. Call that attorney and get some counsel. Turn yourself in, and try to begin to make it right rather than looking totally unremorseful by trying to ‘fix’ the car yourself. Seriously.
but she never turned herself in,they came to her,everyone makes mistakes but she had the chance to make amends she tried to hide it all she was not thinking about the right/good thing to do~ all she was thinking is how she can stay out of prison and hide the evidence-she was speeding as well cuz it is only 25 through that area,and now because of her lack of care and kindness and for her ignorance she will go to prison and be sued by the other family
five years huh, doesnt quite seem fair to his family especially his daughter! She should get alot more than that and since shes a member of “the community”, that somehow should make a differnce but arent we all a member of a community in some small way or another. I didnt know Josh all that well and havent seen him since we graduated together. People need to be more cautious downtown with all of the concerts we have down there. There is no excuse for what happened and could of easily been avoided
I am trying desperately to understand all the explanations of how this woman with a heart of gold is being so wrongly vilified. She ran because she had done nothing wrong. She tampered with evidence because she had committed no crime. Isn’t paranoia associated with bath salts?
The artice states that she reached an agreement with the district attorney and tunrned herself in basically. I am missing something? Paul Edwards in earlier press statements indicated this would go to grand jury for indictment w/ charges. Looks like the agreement is no grand jury???????? What a bunch of BS.
FIVE years??? A man lost his life. A family lost their loved one. Not only did she hit and kill this man, but she left the scene and tried to hide it and all they can give her is five years? Only in Maine can this type of justice be evident. People caught with marajauna get more time than this…Burn someone on Kenduskeag, ya get five years. Throw a child against a crib, you get 7 years. Beat a child and kill him and get 15 years. Grow some pot and sell some of it so ya can feed your family….30 years plus….Yep this certainly is MAINE—-The way life shouldnt be.
Jeff just a thought…run for political office and change the laws if you don’t like them.
Yes, life is cheaper here in Maine.
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/04/27/news/aroostook/driver-charged-in-fatal-mars-hill-crash-out-of-jail-after-new-charges-filed-against-him/
It was nearly 8 months from the accident before this guy was charged with the death of Mr. York & the serious injury of Mr. Young, but he was charged with OUI right after the accident happened. This woman has now been charged with the leaving the scene, but let’s hope the investigation is continuing here as well, and she could face more serious charges in the future. It doesn’t seem right that she could get only 5 years for leaving this man in the road to die and then trying to get rid of the evidence.
Sarah last time I checked YOU get to choose who works on your hair. And if you don’t know 99.9% of hairdressers and barbers “rent” a chair from the owner of the business and are not “employees”.
Released on 60$ bail? That’s ridiculous. I don’t care if it was an “accident.” She not only left the scene, but she FALSIFIED EVIDENCE, trying to remove the evidence of the accident from her car. That is a COVER UP. I don’t care how she makes her living or how “nice” she is while people are watching. That is not justice for Josh or his family.
We can all judge. Can all come to our own conclusions. Was she drunk / drinking and that’s why she panicked? Who knows….God does. We can not be the judges, as we will never know the complete truth and chances are she would never admit to such a thing. What we can do is pray for the families that are involved and hope that they find some kind of closure and help to get through this.
One thing that Mrs. Giles should do, is admit the mistakes she made, plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, at the least….save the courts, save the tax payers. Don’t try to get out of this…admit your mistakes, do the time that the courts think you deserve and wait for God’s judgement.
Empathy- shouldn’t we all have some? Doesn’t mean you have to choose sides but at least recognize the fact that the two parties involved are going to have extremely different views on the case. I know that if I hit someone my mother would still love me, if someone hit me my mother would probably hate them. Two opposite reactions- we are only human.
The police didn’t consider her a flighy risk but let’s be real, she isn’t the kind of woman who can face the music. And now she’s out on a measily $60 bail. Let’s hope she doesn’t “panic” again!
And in regards to panicking, the truth is any one of us may have been takrn over by panic, adrenaline, shock. We don’t think we would have but we haven’t been there. But at some point clarity set in and when it di dc she wasn’t compelled by guilt or consideration of a man’s life. Instead of turning herself in, she tried to cover it up and go on with her life as usual. That is no accident.
Maybe we should all just have little empathy, ( the capacity to recognize feelings that are being experienced by another person)- both sides are dealing with something devastating, of course in different ways. I know if I was hit by a hit and run driver my family would hate them, but if I hit someone and ran, my family would always support and love me even through my horrible judgement.
Perhaps those who are speaking of empathy should realize that the consequences experiences thus far by Ms. Giles have consisted of having to shell out $60, and spending a couple of hours in holding. She has not even been charged with vehicular manslaughter and it looks as though she will sail her way right to six month suspended sentence. It appears that you have no empathy for the dump truck full of salt being poured into open wounds.
Roy Schafer: Empathy involves the inner experience of sharing in and comprehending the momentary psychological state of another person
She wasn’t arrested immediately because she was a long-time member of the community?? WTF difference does that make??? She should be rotting in jail and not bailed out for $60.00.
Seeing as how she waltzed out of jail (for KILLING SOMEONE) after paying $60…I don’t have high hopes that she’ll actually pay for what shes done.
Its costs more than that to get out jail in Monopoly for gods sake.
Wow.
Released on $60 personal recognizance bail… That’s the same cost as a “Crime Scene Body Bag” on Wholesale USA Body Bags. Since when does being known for a “long time in the community” essentially trump arrest and bail?
Here is what it boils down: Even if you buy into the “panic defense”, someone else had to tip off police. She did not turn herself in when the initial panic subsided. Who knows if she ever would have?
I also find it odd that it is excusable, in some people’s eyes, to have a moment of panic and leave a man dying in the street simply because they knew her to be a good person. If she was a known drug addict or criminal, would people be so sympathetic?
The human race has proven over and over that we are capable of selfish and horrific acts behind closed doors and still be seen as good people by friends and neighbors.
3 years for takeing a life … should be way longer a death is forever not 3 years.
She was drunk, knew what she had done, and took off. She appears to be connected, nothing will happen to her. Sad.
Now, if most of this had done this, our mother’s maiden name, our ssn # and date of birth would have been front page news by now. Wow, what a humanitarian.
Wow, none of my comments are posted, and could you bury this story any deeper?
What punishment did the guy receive who hit the girl jogging in Orono and then fled? Was he allowed out on bail, I don’t believe it was $60.