NEWTON, Mass. — New court paperwork has been released in the Sweet Tomatoes crash case reveal how fast the car was going and the force of impact.
Brad Casler was traveling 30 to 45 miles per hour over the speed limit in bustling downtown Newton, when he ran a red light and slammed into a pizza restaurant in March, according to a witness statement included in the court documents.
Casler is facing two counts of vehicular manslaughter for the deaths of two people, but his lawyer said it was just a tragic accident.
In this statement of facts, which Calser’s lawyer did not want released, a witness told investigators Casler's "Volkswagen approached her from the north traveling extremely fast, approximately 70 to 80 MPH, and that she heard a wind sound as the vehicle passed her."
Investigators said the impact when Casler's vehicle hit the restaurant was enough to smash through the wall and move heavy commercial ovens.
"It struck a mahogany bar and stools and two sets of Double Blodgett pizza ovens having a combined weight of 3,950 pounds, impacting the pizza ovens and moving them 3.5 to 4 feet,” said court documents.
Accident reconstruction teams found "no indication that the defendant applied his emergency brake or sounded his vehicle's horn to alert the people in his path."
A Volkswagen expert was later brought in who found "at the time of vehicle shut down the engine measured 5,636 RPM and vehicle speed between 47 and 52 mph."
Thirty-two-year-old Gregory Morin and 57-year-old Eleanor Miele of Watertown were both pronounced dead at the scene that night.
Seven others suffered serious injuries.
Cox Media Group
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