West Bath District Court

2017 Dresden fatal leads to manslaughter charge

Mon, 09/17/2018 - 4:30pm

Patrick Shorey, 25, of Augusta was arraigned in district court in West Bath Sept. 17 for a June 2, 2017 crash that killed a Connecticut woman and seriously injured her husband in Dresden. Shorey was arrested Sept. 14, following a grand jury return of six counts.

Shorey was charged with Manslaughter, a class A crime, for the vehicular homicide of Carolyn Blouin, 75, of Rockville, Connecticut; Aggravated Criminal OUI, a class B crime, for the actions that led to the injury of Charles Blouin, 81, also of Rockville, Connecticut; a second count of Aggravated Criminal OUI, class C;  one count of Driving to Endanger, class C; one count of Unlawful Schedule W Drug (methamphetamine), a class D offense; and one count of Operating a Vehicle Without a License, class E.

If convicted, Shorey could get 30 years in prison for Manslaughter, 10 years for the class B Aggravated Criminal OUI charge, and five years each for the class C Aggravated Criminal OUI charge and Driving to Endanger charge. Fines are also possible.

According to a 2017 Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office press release, Shorey’s car, headed southbound on Route 27 at the Dresden-Wiscasset line, crossed into the northbound lane and struck the car Carolyn Blouin was driving. She was pronounced dead at the scene, while her husband was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland with serious injuries. Shorey was also transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

According to a new release from the sheriff's office following Shorey's arraignment, the investigation revealed Shorey's car crossed the centerline and hit the Blouin vehicle head-on.

Monday's release also states that in an unrelated incident, Shorey was arrested last fall after drug agents say he was running a meth lab in his home on Mount Vernon Avenue in Augusta. He recently pleaded guilty to those charges and is due to be sentenced in October.

Shorey appeared Monday by video arraignment at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset with his temporary attorney, Steve Brouchau, and pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from the Dresden crash. Judge Beth Dobson presided. D.A. Jon Liberman was the prosecutor.

Bail was set at $10,000 cash; through his attorney, Shorey deferred the issue of bail, which Liberman said would also have had stipulations to submit to mandatory substance abuse testing, and not operate any vehicle. He would also be forbidden from contacting Charles Blouin. Bail will be addressed when Shorey secures an attorney. Dobson told him to fill out the forms for a court-appointed attorney and to be prepared for a review of his financial situation.

Shorey’s next appearance is in Lincoln County Superior Court on Nov. 5, for a deferred disposition hearing.