Ludlow woman denies guilt in car-bicycle assault case
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: June 18, 2009
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Ludlow woman denied charges Tuesday she deliberately struck a cyclist with her car.
Daniella F. Guica, 20, is free on conditions after pleading innocent in White River Junction District Court to a felony charge of first-degree aggravated domestic assault and misdemeanor charges of domestic assault and unlawful mischief.
According to affidavits filed with the court, Saturday night, a man complained to Springfield Police that Guica had struck him with her car the day before as he rode his bike on Union Street. Based upon statements from the man and witnesses on Union Street, the man was riding north on the sidewalk when Guica — driving south in a Chevrolet Impala — crossed lanes, drove up onto the sidewalk and hit the man, knocking him off his bike and into a picket fence.
Guica allegedly exited her vehicle and approached the man, affidavits state, with one witness claiming she struck the man, another claiming she swung at him and missed and a third claiming she chased him.
Affidavits state Guica told police she had her 1-year-old child in the car at the time of the alleged assault.
Police responded after receiving a call from a Union Street resident, but the man refused to identify himself or talk with police, records state. The man also declined to explain why he waited a day to report the incident, records state, but he did give police a sworn written affidavit describing the alleged incident.
Police observed scrapes on the man's ankle, elbow and back, and later examined the bike, which police said appeared to have been struck by a car, records state.
Sunday, police interviewed Guica, who reportedly told police she did strike the man with her car while driving between 5 and 10 mph, but she only intended to hurt him.
"I drove over the sidewalk, going about 5 (mph) and hit (the man)," she later wrote in an affidavit. "Then, when he tried to get away, I got out of the car and chased him. I let my anger get the best of me."
Monday, Guica and the man both appeared at the Springfield Police Station. While the man filled out a second sworn statement claiming Guica had never struck him and he was injured in another unspecified way, Guica told police the man only wished to recant his statement because he didn't want her to go to jail and not be able to care for her child, affidavits state.
Police then arrested the man, charging him with providing false information.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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