Bradford to Bolton: Winooski man driving a stolen car causes multiple crashes, closes I-89

August 12 2021  |  By The Times-Argus and Waterbury Roundabout 

BARRE – No one was seriously injured in a series of highway crashes on Sunday that closed Interstate 89 in Waterbury in both directions for a short time. 

A Winooski man was in court on Monday to face a long list of charges connected with the incidents spanning approximately 60 miles that police say began with him stealing a woman's car in Bradford and then crashing it into several other vehicles across central Vermont before totaling it on I-89 in Bolton.

Christopher P. White, 37, pleaded not guilty by video Monday in Washington County criminal court in Barre to felony counts of aggravated vehicle operation without the owner's consent and driving under the influence for the third time. 

He also pleaded not guilty to a number of misdemeanor charges: four counts of gross negligent operation; three counts of leaving the scene of an accident; three counts of reckless endangerment; two counts of driving with a suspended license; and driving under the influence.

If convicted, White faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison.

He was ordered held on $10,000 bail with 10% needed to be posted for his release. The conditions for White’s release include that he not drive or have alcohol, a curfew and 24-hour supervision by his father, according to the Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault. 

It began with a carjacking

Bradford Police Officer David Shaffer said in his affidavit on Aug. 8 that at about 1:15 p.m. two people called 911 from Hannaford's supermarket in Bradford. One of the callers reported a woman was screaming and running around the parking lot, Shaffer said.

The other caller reported that a man had pretended the woman had hit him with her vehicle. The officer said the victim reported she went to check on the man who was on the ground and he then stole her white 2017 Chevrolet Equinox.

Shaffer said the woman told police that the man, later identified as White, pulled her from the vehicle and told her, “I'm taking your car.” The victim told police she started to scream and tried to stop White by grabbing on to the steering wheel but White was able to get away and sped down Route 5.

Shaffer said that at about 1:45 p.m. dispatch informed him that White had been involved in a crash in Berlin. The officer noted that White must have been driving at a high rate of speed because traveling from Bradford to Berlin should take about 40-45 minutes.

Barre City Police Officer Brittany Lewis’ affidavit then described a multi-car crash involving White on Washington Street in Barre at about 1:40 p.m. Lewis said White had crashed into three vehicles and one of the vehicles was leaking fluid. 

She said White then fled the scene and witnesses described White swerving into the oncoming lane where one driver slammed on her brakes to keep from colliding with White head-on. Two vehicles behind the woman who had to stop abruptly ended up rear-ending her car and each other, according to court records. Lewis said two of those vehicles had to be towed from the scene.

Berlin Police Officer Victor A. Hinojosa said in his affidavit that a witness was following White's vehicle and was relaying information to police. Hinojosa said the witness reported he started following White after White hit his vehicle in Barre.

The officer said the driver following White told police that White paid no attention to red traffic lights at the intersection of North Main Street and Route 62 in Barre and nearly rolled the Equinox after hitting the median.

The witness following White told police White blew through the rest of the intersections on Route 62 on his way to Interstate 89. Hinojosa said the witness stated about White: “he had no regard for people's lives, I'm surprised he didn't kill anyone.”

Crashes on the interstate

Once on I-89, White headed north toward Waterbury. Vermont State Trooper John Gildea in an affidavit described how a woman told police she and her husband were driving north on I-89 in Middlesex when White hit their vehicle from behind. Gildea said the crash damaged the side of the vehicle and the driver pulled over to inspect it. No one was injured in this incident.

Gildea said those motorists said they saw White swerving in and out of lanes and passing vehicles on both sides of the highway.

A records check showed that White's driver's license was suspended, Gildea said.

Further north on I-89 in Waterbury, Trooper Jacob M. Fox responded where two vehicles were off the road. He found a black 2014 Hyundai Elantra down an embankment. Rescue crews worked to remove the driver, 62-year-old Della Pagano of Williston from that vehicle.

Fox said that White had side-swiped the Elantra, causing Pagano to lose control. Her vehicle then traveled from the northbound side of the interstate across the median and into the southbound lanes where it hit a southbound 2018 Toyota Corolla driven by Kris Lizzari, 29 of Montpelier. Pagano’s vehicle went over a guardrail and came to rest down an embankment. Lizzarti’s Corolla stopped in the median, Fox said.     

White continued north on the highway at a high rate of speed until he hit a large boulder in Bolton and crashed, according to police. He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Pagano was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington for treatment for non-life threatening injuries and Lizzari also suffered minor injuries, according to police. Fox’s report noted that both of their vehicles, the Elantra and the Corolla, were totaled.

In an interview later with Melissa Cooney of WCAX-Channel 3 News, Pagano told of her encounter with White, saying she saw him approaching her “at lightning speed” as she braced for impact. “I knew I couldn’t get out of his way. There was nowhere to go,” she said. Her vehicle flipped multiple times, she said, hitting the other vehicle, the guardrail, and a tree before it landed on the bank below the highway.

Lizzari, who sustained an arm injury, wrote about the crash on Facebook describing how he was driving home as usual and in the southbound passing lane when Pagano’s car went out of control. “All of a sudden, a car comes flying across the median from the northbound lane heading directly towards me. I hit the brakes and almost immediately the car slammed into what felt like my windshield,” he wrote. “It then bounced up over the roof of my car, clipping the top of the guardrail and down a steep embankment off the road. To my amazement, an incredible amount of airbags went off from the roof, the dashboard, the door, and even the side of my seat.”

He told of other motorists who stopped at the scene to help before first responders arrived, offering him water and their air-conditioned car to wait for the ambulance. 

Both Pagano and Lizzari expressed their surprise and gratitude for surviving the ordeal with only minor injuries. “Hug your loved ones. Tell them you love them - often,” Lizzari wrote. “Life is fragile. One moment you are driving home on a beautiful sunny Sunday, then next a car is landing on your hood.”

Pagano agreed. “Hug your family members every day. Tell them you love them ‘cause life is short,” she told Channel 3. “Really take nothing for granted.” 

Trooper Fox said a preliminary breath test showed White had a blood alcohol level of 0.129%, over the legal limit which is 0.08%.

The series of crashes shut down both sides of I-89 in Waterbury with the northbound lanes closed for about an hour and a half, police said.

Fox noted that White also had a warrant out for his arrest because he had failed to appear for an arraignment on a DUI #3 charge in Chittenden County criminal court after an incident in Winooski on May 23. 

Times-Argus Staff Writer Eric Blaisdell filed this original story; additional reporting by Lisa Scagliotti, Waterbury Roundabout.