BELFAST, Maine — A central Maine man who was behind the wheel in January 2013 when his vehicle hit a tractor-trailer head on, killing his co-worker and leaving him a quadriplegic, was sentenced this week on the charge of motor vehicle violation resulting in death.
Christian Arsenault, 25, of China will pay a fine of $1,000 and have his license suspended for six months as a result of the accident.
Arsenault and Dean Camacho, 27, of Waterville, both worked putting up power lines for a utility company and left together early on the morning of Jan. 16, 2013, to go to a job site in Winterport, according to a sentencing memorandum filed at Belfast District Court.
“Dean and Christian worked together for many months. … During this time, Christian grew to know Dean well and considered him a ‘good buddy.’ Dean and Christian would often talk of their families and they shared many times together swapping stories and laughing together,” Jeremy Marden, Arsenault’s attorney, wrote in the memorandum.
But at 5:45 a.m., Arsenault’s Jeep crossed the centerline on the North Palermo Road into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer truck driven by George Ingraham of Knox, according to a previous report in the Bangor Daily News. Camacho was trapped in the vehicle before rescue personnel could free him and died from his injuries at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Arsenault, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown out the passenger-side window.
Marden wrote that his client, who suffered significant spinal cord and leg injuries in the crash, has no memory of the motor vehicle collision. The crash was caused by Arsenault’s excessive speed, according to a police accident reconstruction report. He tried to negotiate a curve in the road and could not maintain control, Marden wrote in the memorandum.
Arsenault, who had earned $118,000 the year before the crash and had a “very active life” that included all-terrain vehicle riding, snowmobiling and fishing, cannot feel any sensation below his chest and requires a wheelchair to get around.
“Christian will be entirely dependent on others for the remainder of his life, and he currently depends on his father, brother and sister to help him,” Marden wrote.
He learned to drive a modified, hand-operated van last year, which has allowed Arsenault many benefits, Marden wrote, including a “tiny bit of freedom and independence.”
Before his sentencing, Arsenault participated in a restorative justice conference with Ashley Noel, Camacho’s fiancee and the mother of his child, who is now 7 years old. Conference facilitators wrote that the February restorative justice circle provided a “safe space” for Noel to ask the questions that have dogged her, to gain a better understanding of the day of the accident and connect with Arsenault as a person who also was suffering.
“At the start of their dialogue was an immediate and heartfelt apology from Christian. His remorse and sadness for Ashley and her son’s loss was profound. He stated that he thinks of them daily and prays that they are doing OK,” the facilitators wrote in a letter included in the court documents.
According to the letter, Noel suggested she and Arsenault jointly speak to high school students in the area about the impact of speeding and inattentive driving. Arsenault readily agreed.
“Christian Arsenault would like the court to know that there is not a day that goes by that he does not think about what happened on Jan. 16, 2013,” Marden wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
Arsenault was sentenced to the fine and license suspension April 14.