Driver In Crash Pleads Not Guilty To OUI

The driver of a car that crashed into a tree on Hurlburt Road in Great Barrington early Monday had apparently been drinking hard seltzer and had taken allergy medication before the crash that seriously injured his friend. You can read the original story here.

When the Fire Department arrived, Gutierrez was extricated from the car and airlifted to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he remains in the intensive care unit but is showing hopeful signs of recovery.

Badurski told police he drank about two hard seltzers around 9 p.m.; police found four empty cans of hard seltzer in the car. He also said he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day and Badurski Attorney noted that Badurski's allergy medication, taken some time that day, might have affected his reaction to the hard cider he admitted to drinking.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the 19-year-old Benjamin Badurski was arraigned in Southern Berkshire District Court on Thursday on OUI and other charges. Badurski says he believes he fell asleep at the wheel.

Judge William Rota ordered Badurski not to drive and set a pretrial hearing for Oct. 22. He was released on $500 bail. The accident is under investigation by the state police accident reconstruction and crime scene units.