Final report issued in fatal auto crash

By Nelson Sigelman - March 20, 2008

Alcohol and speed proved to be a fatal combination for Brandy Marie Gibson. The 20-year-old woman had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when she died in an automobile crash on Jan. 29, according to Oak Bluffs police.

The results of a toxicology report for Ms. Gibson, completed by the office of the Chief Medical Examiner, are contained in a press release prepared by the Oak Bluffs police. Ms. Gibson's blood alcohol level was .19, and she tested positive for marijuana, the report concluded.

The legal limit for an operator 21 years of age and older is .08. The toxicology results were the last piece of information police were waiting for to complete their investigation into the accident.

Last month police released the preliminary findings of a State Police accident reconstruction team. According to that report, Ms. Gibson, a well-liked 2004 graduate of Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, was driving at a speed of 82 miles per hour (mph), more than twice the 35 mph posted speed limit, when her 1993 Oldsmobile hit a slow moving delivery van making a left turn from County Road, at the intersection of Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and County Road in Oak Bluffs.

Police estimated her vehicle's speed was 73 mph when it hit a 1999 Chevrolet delivery van that was determined to be traveling at 9 mph.

Francellyo C. Dias, 25, who was driving the van owned by Humphreys bakery, and his passenger, Lessa Keila of Vineyard Haven, were seriously injured.

"Police cite Gibson's speed of 82 MPH as the first and major causation of the crash and her level of intoxication as the second contributing causation," said the police press release, which also cited a notation in the final report prepared by investigating officer James Morse. "Dias did not possess a valid driver's license at the time of the crash. Other than his license status, he complied with all other motor vehicle laws and regulations at the time of the crash."

The report said police have requested a criminal complaint against Mr. Dias for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle (subsequent offense) in Edgartown District Court.

Police issued a citation to Humphreys, a popular sandwich and bakery company with shops in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and Vineyard Haven, charging the company's owners with allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle.