Hyde Park man charged in crash that left passenger dead

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A Hyde Park man crashed a car early Saturday morning and fled the accident scene, leaving his passenger to die, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Gregory Colandris, 22, was driving with a suspended license and was out of jail on his own recognizance after a September drunk driving charge.

At around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dedham police and firefighters responded to a crash on Dedham Parkway in Hyde Park, just over the border. Police found a 2005 Toyota Tundra crashed into a tree, and 25-year-old Mercedes Leary unresponsive in the passenger seat.

There was no one in the driver's seat, and police brought in a K-9 unit to try and find the driver. After speaking to Leary's family at around 8:30 Saturday morning, police used her cellphone call log to find Colandris, Conley said.

Officers went to his house on Dell Terrace, where he answered the door with blood on his head and clothes, smelling of alcohol, according to Conley.

Colandris was arrested and blew a .037 into a Breathalyzer at the state police barracks. He was arraigned Monday in West Roxbury District Court on charges of operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.

A judge ordered he be held on $50,000 cash bail and revoked his bail on the September drunk driving case, and an earlier assault and battery case in Brockton.

Colandris will return to court on Dec. 23.

Cox Media Group