Friends Arrested For Letting Friend, Who Died In Car Crash, Drive Drunk

Months after 17-year-old Jane Modlesky died in a car crash, three teens have been arrested for letting her drive drunk.

The boys, all 17-year-olds were not in the car with Modlesky when she drove and crashed the SUV into a tree in Glastonbury, Connecticut. But police say the boys knew Modlesky was "highly intoxicated" when they let her drive alone in the early morning hours on July 14.

Before the crash, Modlesky was in the car with four 16-year-old boys, reports say. Two of the boys took turns driving the two others home. Modlesky was the last one left when she drove home.

According to Police, Modlesky's blood alcohol content was .27, way higher than the .02 legal limit for someone under 21.

"They very well knew that she was intoxicated and should not have been driving," Agent James Kennedy of Glastonbury Police Department told NBC Connecticut.

One of the boys was charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree. One was also charged with reckless endangerment, along with violation of passenger restrictions and operating a motor vehicle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The other teenager was charged with violation of passenger restrictions and operating a motor vehicle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., NBC Connecticut reported.

Critics say the police are over-stepping their bounds by arresting the boys.

"This is a highly unusual situation," California attorney Lawrence Taylor told Yahoo Shine. "It's basically saying that they had a positive duty to stop her. But you cannot be prosecuted because you didn't stop someone from engaging in criminal conduct," he said.

Lawrence compared the situation to being held at gunpoint.

"If someone is holding a gun and is about to shoot it, and you don't pull it out of their hand, you cannot be held accountable. So I think the police are kind of overreaching here," he told Yahoo Shine.

Real Time Analytics