CARIBOU, Maine — A Portage man who was incarcerated last year for driving drunk and causing a single-vehicle crash that claimed the life of his 33-year-old cousin has been accused of violating his probation by driving a snowmobile.
Myles Bolstridge, 23, who denies the probation violation charge, is scheduled to appear in court May 31, according to Aroostook County Deputy District Attorney Carrie Linthicum.
She said Bolstridge was summoned after allegedly operating a snowmobile in late March in violation of a provision of his probation that prevents him from driving anything motorized.
Police reported Bolstridge had a blood-alcohol content of 0.10 at the time of the Nov. 6, 2013, crash that killed his cousin, Joey Clark of Ashland. The legal limit to drive in Maine is a 0.08 blood alcohol level.
A manslaughter charge was dismissed, but he was found guilty in March 2015 of aggravated criminal operating under the influence causing death, aggravated operating under the influence causing serious injury and criminal speed.
In total, he was sentenced to seven years in jail with all but 12 months suspended and fined $6,300. He also was ordered to serve three years probation after his release and his driver’s license was suspended for 10 years.
Linthicum said that on the night of the crash, Joey Clark was one of five passengers in the 2005 F250 pickup driven by Bolstridge, and all had been drinking. The other passengers have since recovered from their injuries. Linthicum said Bolstridge was speeding at 89 mph north on Route 11 because the group “was in a hurry to get to the store before it closed.”
During the sentencing hearing, Bolstridge told Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter that on the night of the crash, he thought he was “invincible.”
“I made a stupid, stupid mistake,” he said.
Clark was the father of two boys and well known in the Ashland community. He owned and operated a trucking firm for several years and was an experienced mechanic and welder.
If found guilty of the current charge of violating probation, Bolstridge could be ordered to serve some or all of the remaining time on his suspended sentence.