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Report: Drunk Driver In Wild Crash Threatened Trooper With Voodoo

BOSTON (AP) — An Everett woman charged with striking a newspaper delivery truck on a Boston highway with her car while drunk, sending it plummeting 40 feet to the ramp below, threatened to put a voodoo hex on the state trooper who pulled her over, according to the arrest report.

Vivencia Bellegarde, 25, also accused the trooper of being racist and mocked him for paying for groceries while she gets hers for free, after the trooper found she had three electronic benefits cards used by welfare recipients, the Boston Herald reported Tuesday. Only one of the cards was in her name, according to the newspaper.

"She repeatedly called me a racist and told me she was from Haiti and she was gonna 'put voodoo on my white (expletive),'" Trooper William Kokocinski wrote in his report.

Authorities allege Bellegarde was behind the wheel of a 2006 Cadillac that struck the rear of a Boston Globe delivery truck on northbound Interstate 93 at about 3:15 a.m. Monday. State Transportation Department video shows the truck careening over the guardrail and onto the Leverett Connector ramp about 40 feet below, where it broke into pieces.

The driver, Paul Healy Jr., 35, of Brockton, was hospitalized Tuesday in fair condition.

He suffered fractured ribs, a fractured vertebra and a bruised kidney, his mother, Jacqueline Elinoff, told The Boston Globe.

"He thought he was not going to survive once he saw himself going over the guardrail," she said.

Healy's late father also used to drive for the Globe and he believes his father was watching over him, co-worker Michael Halley said.

Bellegarde, who according to court records is unemployed, is being held on $10,000 bail after pleading not guilty Monday to charges including operating under the influence of alcohol.

Her attorney, Hassan Williams, said his client is "looking forward to her day in court" but had no further comment.

State welfare officials are investigating why Bellegarde had three EBT cards.

She refused a breath test of her blood-alcohol level, triggering an automatic three-year license suspension, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Her driving record includes one previous drunken driving arrest and 10 license suspensions.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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