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Snowmobiler Pleads Guilty to Reckless Conduct

December 10, 2008 - LIMERICK -- The Limerick snowmobiler who hit Darrin Smith at the Limerick Airfield and left him seriously injured will be sentenced in February after pleading guilty to two of four charges brought against him in York County Superior Court Nov. 20.

Patrick Rosa, who was 18 when he was arrested last year, could face up to one year in jail and a maximum $2,000 fine for reckless conduct and up to six months and no more than $1,000 fine for criminal trespass for the Dec. 28 incident. Both are misdemeanor crimes, according to Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the Maine Warden Service.

Rosa was also indicted on felony charges of Class B aggravated assault and Class D assault, which were dropped.

Sentencing has been scheduled for either Feb. 6 or 20, according to court papers.

"We don't know this to be true, because this office has not heard from the district attorney's office," said Turcotte when asked for a comment about the plea agreement.

When reached at home Nov. 26, Smith also declined to comment on Rosa's plea agreement.

Smith did say that as the one-year anniversary approaches, he was "getting better very slowly."

"I'm still on crutches, still not walking," he said.

Smith, who was 42 at the time, was walking with his black lab Phoebe on the airfield behind his Route 11 home when, authorities say, he was hit by the snowmobile Rosa was driving around 9:30 p.m. Authorities say Rosa then rode off, leaving both Smith and his black lab, Phoebe, seriously injured. With a shattered leg, Smith managed to crawl part way back to his house before his daughters found him.

Rosa was arrested the following evening after the Maine Warden Service conducted an investigation. At the time, wardens said they believed other parties may have been involved in the incident, but no one else has been charged in the crime.

Turcotte had no comment when asked whether the case is still open and whether other charges are still forthcoming. A message left for District Attorney Mark Lawrence was not returned by the Reporter's deadline.

Smith called the York County Sheriff's Office prior to the accident to complain about snowmobilers on his property, which had recently been posted off-limits to snowmobiles, Turcotte said in a previous interview. However, Rosa was not one of the snowmobilers who had prompted the complaint, she said.

“I have no doubt in my mind (the snowmobilers) knew they weren’t supposed to be there,” Smith said in January, shortly after he returned home from New England Rehabilitation in Portland.

By Ann Fisher
Reporter – The Reporter
12/4/08


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford


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