The driver who in May pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in injury and was sentenced Friday to 18 months of unsupervised probation and 100 hours of community service, according to the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s office.
Michael Dupuis, 32, pleaded guilty Aug. 29 and was sentenced Friday in 8th Judicial District Court in Fort Collins. As a condition of his probation, he won’t be allowed to drive.
Loveland police responded to a crash at 12:18 p.m. at the Dairy Queen at 300 E. Eisenhower Blvd. on May 18, a Saturday. A Toyota Corolla driven by Dupuis had crashed into a family eating at a picnic area outside the Dairy Queen.
A witness following the vehicle told police the Toyota was driving erratically and suddenly went off the right side of Eisenhower Boulevard and struck the family picnic area outside the restaurant, according to a press release from the Loveland Police Department.
Retired Loveland police officer Bob Hendry, his wife, Carol, and their two grandchildren were from the crash. The grandchildren were visiting the couple from out of state and wanted to go to Dairy Queen, Bob Hendry told the Reporter-Herald in May. The car knocked him about 10 feet in the air, and he broke two bones. The other family members were not seriously injured.
An unidentified woman was briefly trapped under the vehicle and was also taken to the hospital.
Dupuis was arrested at the scene.
Dupuis initially faced charges of vehicular assault via DUI and reckless driving, Class 4 and 5 felonies, respectively; DUI, an unclassified misdemeanor; and six counts of careless driving causing injury, a Class 1 traffic violation. All but the careless driving charge were dismissed, according to court documents. He had no previous criminal record.
Dupuis’ attorney, Sarah Schielke, accused the Loveland Police Department of claiming her client was under the influence to use the case to gain support for its DUI prevention efforts. At the time of the crash, police said they believed alcohol or drugs were involved. Schielke said Dupuis was sober and had only trace amounts of THC in his system, and that the crash was caused by him aspirating liquid into his lungs when he took a sip of a drink, causing him to lose control of his car.
“They wrecked this kid’s life (a veteran with no criminal history whatsoever) because using the video of the crash to promote their own agendas regarding alcohol DUIs was convenient and Mr. Dupuis didn’t appear to have the resources to fight it,” Schielke said in the email. “Itap gross.”
Schielke said that Dupuis was “extremely traumatized” by the crash and has not been behind the wheel of a car since the incident, biking to work instead of driving.
At publication time, representatives from the Loveland Police Department and the District Attorney’s office had not responded to requests for comment.
