BANGOR, Maine — A Brewer woman was indicted Wednesday by the Penobscot County grand jury in connection with a fatal hit-and-run on Main Street earlier this month.
Patricia Giles, 51, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Class C felony, and falsifying physical evidence.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony charge.
Police say Giles struck 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, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts.
Giles surrendered to police on June 13 as part of an agreement with the district attorney’s office.
Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, said Wednesday that Giles was not indicted for manslaughter because there was no proof she was criminally negligent when she struck Constantine.
Maine law defines manslaughter as “recklessly, or with criminal negligence, caus[ing] the death of another human being.”
Giles was headed home from being in the Main Street area of Bangor during a waterfront concert but did not purchase a ticket for the show, the prosecutor said.
“We have no evidence that she was in a bar drinking before the incident,” Roberts said.
This week, Bangor Public Works installed a crosswalk and a pedestrian signal at Patten Street, the entrance to Shaw’s.
Roberts said Wednesday that even if Constantine had been in the crosswalk when he was struck, the driver would not have been criminally negligent unless it could be proven that person was impaired in some way, such as under the influence of intoxicants.
The day after the accident, police got a tip that Giles was involved and went to her residence, where they found the Bonneville in the garage.
Police found Giles had tried to remove the car’s windshield, and that is why she is charged with falsifying evidence, according to Roberts.
Initially, Giles told investigators she thought she had hit a dog, according to Roberts.
“Ultimately, she acknowledged to the Bangor Police Department that she hit someone and then panicked,” Roberts said.
Giles is expected to be arraigned on Sept. 12.
If she wasn’t drinking that night and I’m not saying she was. All she had to do was stop and this mess would be all over now. Trying to remove the windshield was a bad error on her part. I hope the judge gives her the largest sentence allowed by law. Waht she did was completely heartless.
The sad truth is you are absolutely right. If she wasn’t drinking that night and she had stopped at the scene and waited for the police, there is a real good chance that she would not have been charged at all. I’ll never know the whole truth about what happened that night none of us will but she will have to live with what she’s done the rest of her life. I’m sure that even when she gets out of jail people will always be pointing and whispering.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want that on my conscience. But I would have stopped.
Even if I was drinking. And there is no doubt.
“if” she wasn’t drinking
she ran for a reason. she knew she’d be caught. but at least she had time to get her blood alcohol level down. VERY smart move on her part.
So running someone down in a crosswalk is not reckless? or criminally negligent? Wow. If that is the case, why do we have crosswalks? Why do we have a law that requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks? Why do we not have open season on pedestrians? Or maybe we do?
he w a s n o t i n a c r o s s w a l k..
If he would have been it might have been manslaughter.
He was not. However, if you read the article, there is a paragraph that says: “Roberts said Wednesday that even if Constantine had been in the
crosswalk when he was struck, the driver would not have been criminally
negligent unless it could be proven that person was impaired in some
way, such as under the influence of intoxicants.”
Hence my comment.
how interesting that he’s only been dead three weeks, and a crosswalk has already been installed? How dare you people continue to accuse the deceased. This is repulsive.
It’s repulsive to point out the obvious? The pedestrian crossed the street illegally, walking into traffic. How is it repulsive to remind people of this fact?
No, we don’t have an open season on pedestrains. You are trying to make a moutain out of a mole hill. Pedestrians have laws they must follow as well.
How is being a bit outraged that a driver is not criminally responsible for striking a pedestrian who is following the laws making a mountain out of a molehill? Please enlighten me.
So if a pedestrian steps into a crosswalk as you drive down the road and you have no time to stop, hit and kill them you should be charged, correct?
There should at least be the potential for charges; whether or not you are charged is left to the district attorney, is it not?
Wow!!! That is all I have to say to your responce.
Very articulate. It’s not always the pedestrian’s fault, Kevin, sometimes it is the fault of the driver.
And sometimes it is the pedestrian who is at fault but for some reason you don’t understand that small fact.
Where did I say that? I’ve driven and walked enough in the Bangor area to confidently say that there are roughly the same numbers of pedestrians who ignore the laws as there are drivers. I’ve posted that on most of the articles where people bash pedestrians. As a matter of fact, if you digest the comment to which you posted this you will see I pretty much said just that.
No you didn’t. You started off bashing drivers right off and then stated why do we even have crosswalks. You are placing all the blame directly on a driver regardless if the pedestrian is in the wrong. It is obvious you are not going to admit it so, good day.
I started off bashing a law that has no backbone. I have not bashed drivers, nor have I bashed pedestrians. I am more than willing to admit to what I have said but not to what you are attempting to attribute to me.
KEVIN – WAS it the VICTIM’s FAULT THAT SHE SPED OFF AND LEFT HIM DEAD IN THE ROAD? AND THEN TRIED TO COVER IT UP????
And if you took a moment to read what we are discussing you would know it has nothing to do with the person who was hit. It is a discussion about pedestrians in crosswalks but you didn’t take the time to comprehend that. You just spouted off without thinking. Good job!
yes you take a life you need to answer for it!!!!
So you are another that wants to hold the driver accountable even if the pedestrian is 100% in the wrong? If that is the case I hope you never sit on a jury.
And to those who may potentially drive while impaired, this serves to provide ample motivation to flee the scene of any accident in which they may be potentially involved.
From the article, “Roberts said Wednesday that even if Constantine had been in the
crosswalk when he was struck, the driver would not have been criminally
negligent unless it could be proven that person was impaired in some
way, such as under the influence of intoxicants.”
There is already ample motivation to flee if you are impaired.
rip josh you will never be forgotten
You and the other 27 people who “liked” your comment need to lay off the emotion and think. Where has it ever been suggested that this woman “ran” the victim down? To run someone down would be to deliberately target someone with your vehicle. Again, there has been no indication this was the case.
What we do know is that the pedestrian crossed the road illegally; he was not in a crosswalk. And we do know that it was dark.
Even with a crosswalk, pedestrians do not have the right to walk into oncoming traffic, unless that crosswalk is controlled. But even then, common sense says you don’t walk in front of a moving vehicle. The vehicle will win that duel every time.
why did she not stop,she knew she hit a person and sped away, mayb she did mean to hit him who knows??
You can use that narrow interpretation if you like since it forwards your argument. The phrase is more widely used to mean “to hit a person when driving your car” with no indication of deliberation or intent.
You are right, pedestrians do not have the right to walk into oncoming traffic. But drivers do have the obligation to obey laws regarding pedestrians in crosswalks, do they not? The larger problem is the “duel” mentality that drivers have regarding pedestrians. The fact that there is no consequence to ignoring those laws seems to give drivers the sense there is no need to heed them.
Can we agree that drivers and pedestrians need to show more common sense and common courtesy? It’s not a war; we’re just all trying to get to our destination.
I wonder why she didn’t stop.
Only she can truthfully answer that.
The paper says she paniced. Did she panic when she tried to remove the windshield from her car, my husband is in law enforcment and odds are if she has not criminal record she will do little to no time. Ohh and I commend the City of Bangor for putting in a crosswalk after the fact that someone is killed. The city has no problem putting on events to increase revenue, at what cost. It takes a tragity. Why donbt we turn all the lights off downtown to save money on eletric, and when someone is killed we will decide to turn them back on.
He was not in a crosswalk because the crosswalk did not exist. This woman does have to live with what she did for the rest of her life but for those of us who know the Constantine family, they have to live with a hole in their hearts. This was a tragic accident but she should have stopped!
I can’t believe her charge is in the same class as growing some marijuana in Maine. Our laws are crazy.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony charge…..wow that’s it.
UP TO 5 Years???…which means she won’t get that. People get more time for driving w/o a license and not hurting anyone….and she killed someone…and then she ACTIVELY tried to cover it up, she tried to get away with killing someone and is only going to get…at max, a few years. That is insane! Shouldn’t she at least be charged with agg. assault? I don’t care if she was drinking or not, the fact she didn’t even brake after hitting him, and then tried to cover it up…it’s sick! People get way more for way less. My heart goes out to the Constatine family, I’m sorry for your lose, and I’m sorry the justice system is making a mockery out of it.
Assault requires intent. Without intent, there can be no assault.
A local man could get up to 5 years for possession of child porn; a local woman could get up to 5 years for being responsible for the loss of a human life……..does that make sense????????
She WAS NOT responsible for the death. The pedestrian died on impact, after walking in front of her.
On impact with a vehicle she was driving.
ryanrrobbins…….if I rear end a car, if I hit a car that pulled out in front of me, if I hit anything with the front of my car, 99 times out of a 100 I’d be considered responsible. If you are driving a car, (a huge weapon), you should be in control of it at all times. If Patty wasn’t drinking or drugging she should have stopped, as simple as that……..no way to tell days later if she was impaired, in any way…… we all have our opinions, I just don’t agree with yours!
“if I hit a car that pulled out in front of me, if I hit anything with the front
of my car, 99 times out of a 100 I’d be considered responsible.”
Maybe in another universe. In this universe, those having the right of way are not responsible.
It really does not matter who’s fault it was…the reprehensible fact is that she DID NOT STOP. How can she live with herself? Even if I thought I hit a dog ( as she says), I would have stopped. There is no excuse .
The fact that there was no braking (if they can indeed determine that) is very suspicious to me, and as a layman only to me suggests a more serious charge. I also feel that 5 years, if the maximum sentence is imposed, is too light given the set of circumstances, including that she lied, she said she thought she hit a dog but then revised her story plus she tried to remove the evidence.
Maybe the driver should have been more careful.
At least the Mayor of Bangor got public works to put in another crosswalk, hopefully preventing further tragedies.
Bangor doesn’t have a mayor.
Well at least we know who was driving I thought it was going to be kept secret !!!! There is no excuse for not stopping,you hit someone or something the first thing you should do is stop.I hope she doesn’t have any kids because she’s a great role model.Ignorant people should not reproduce we have enough of them already.