PHILIPSBURG--Eighteen-year-old K.N., who was involved in the accident that led to the death of 44-year-old Dominican Republic native Juan Paulino Ortiz on Saturday morning, will be charged based on the conclusions of the investigation into the accident, Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Hazel Durand said on Tuesday.
An alcohol test was not done on N., who has since been released. Durand said the St. Maarten Police Force does not have a breathalyser. “Therefore, investigators are summarising their findings based on how the young man appeared and his odour at the time of the accident,” Durand explained.
Some persons in the community expressed concern that no test was done on the teenage driver, whom police spokesperson Ricardo Henson had said seemed to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, while a voluntary blood test had been done on VROMI Minister Miklos Giterson, when he was involved in a fender-bender months ago.
Ortiz became the first road fatality for 2019 when a vehicle, driven by N. slammed head-on into Ortiz’s vehicle on A.J.C. Brouwer Road near the Osbourne Kruythoff roundabout 1:35am Saturday, January 12.
The Daily Herald understands that Ortiz had been headed down A.J.C. Brouwer Road toward the Osbourne Kruythoff roundabout, while the vehicle driven by N. had been headed in the opposite direction. Reports indicate that N. drifted into Ortiz’s lane and slammed into Ortiz’s vehicle head-on, which resulted in another vehicle that was travelling behind Ortiz also hitting his vehicle from behind, resulting in Ortiz’s vehicle becoming severely mangled.
Police spokesperson Chief Inspector Ricardo Henson said in a release issued over the weekend that three vehicles with licence plates P-3237, 9311-AAB and P-8883 were involved in the smash-up.
Henson said that as a result of the impact the driver of 9311-ABB (Ortiz) had died of the injuries he sustained. Dr. Mike Mercuur pronounced him dead on the scene. The female passenger showed signs of life and was transported by ambulance to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) after being freed from the mangled vehicle by Fire Department personnel. Ortiz and the injured passenger were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the impact.
