Drug deal gone bad led to Haverhill crash that injured pregnant woman, man charged says

May 11--HAVERHILL -- A Methuen man charged with forcing a pregnant woman's Jeep off the road, seriously injuring her, told police the incident began with a drug deal gone bad.

Police said it involved a dispute over marijuana. They detailed the incident in reports on file in Haverhill District Court.

Josef Leavitt, 24, 40 Strathmore Road, Methuen, told police he was waiting to conduct a drug sale Tuesday with a man he was to meet on Old Ferry Road in Haverhill, when the man, who police identified as Dale Penney, 24, of Haverhill, arrived at their meeting spot. Penney opened the passenger door of Leavitt's BMW and began removing items, according to Leavitt's statement to police.

Leavitt, who police described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds, said he was unable to stop Penney, a bigger man who ran with the items to a waiting Jeep Cherokee.

Leavitt said he followed the Jeep through back roads, ending up on Middle Road, and that the Jeep's driver began to stop short, resulting in Leavitt's car crashing into it. Leavitt said the Jeep stopped short again, went off the road and crashed into a wooded area on Middle Road at the entrance to Turkey Hill Farm.

Witnesses described the event as a high-speed incident involving the 2006 Jeep and Leavitt's silver 2007 BMW 328xi at about 6:15 p.m. They said the vehicles reached speeds of 60 mph.

Leavitt said that after the crash, he tried to help the injured driver of the Jeep, a pregnant woman, by climbing through the vehicle's rear hatch, but that he felt threatened by the passenger, Penney, so he fled the area, according to the police reports.

Police said Leavitt's statement was inconsistent with those of witnesses and that of Penney. Witnesses said Leavitt rummaged through the Jeep after the crash, took what appeared to be a container of marijuana and sped away in his car, according to police.

Police charged Leavitt with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Leavitt was arraigned on the charges Wednesday in Haverhill District Court, where Assistant District Attorney Stephen Patten asked that he be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.

Defense attorney Michael Baldassarre, who was appointed for purposes of bail, argued that Leavitt should be released on conditions that would ensure his return to court. Baldassarre said Leavitt has a very minor record in Massachusetts and a very limited record in New Hampshire and that he has no history of violence.

Patten immediately responded, "A 7-month-old baby is fighting for his life."

The driver of the Jeep -- Deanna Clarke, 24, of 43 Douglas St., Haverhill -- was pinned behind the wheel of the Jeep in the crash and had to be removed by firefighters using the Jaws of Life. Clarke was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Clarke's mother, Diane Andrews, an insurance agent in Groveland, said her daughter suffered a compound fracture of her right arm and that doctors had to perform an emergency C-section because they were concerned about possible brain damage to the baby.

She said her daughter was in her seventh month of the pregnancy and that prior to the C-section, the baby's weight was estimated at 2.3 to 2.6 pounds.

Patten said as of late Wednesday morning, Clarke was in stable condition and her baby was in critical condition.

Judge Stephen Abany found probable cause to hold Leavitt without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for May 18. Abany also issued Leavitt a 90-day warning, meaning if he is charged with another offense while his case is pending, he could be ordered held for up to 90 days without bail.

Abany noted that Leavitt's parents were in the courtroom, and that they indicated they were looking into hiring a lawyer for their son. Following the hearing, Baldassarre rushed Leavitt's parents out of the courtroom and down into the courthouse basement while telling reporters he "did his talking in the courtroom."

One witness to the crash, an off-duty West Newbury police officer, told investigators she was inside her home on Middle Road when the sound of loud vehicles drew her attention to her front windows. She said she saw a Jeep and silver BMW traveling at a high rate of speed. The officer told investigators she saw the BMW crash into the driver's side of the Jeep and that it appeared the BMW was intentionally trying to drive the Jeep off the road, according to the police report.

The officer said that moments later she heard the sound of a crash, and that she drove to the scene just north of her home, according to the report. The officer said that when she arrived at the crash scene, she noticed the silver BMW parked along the side of the road and saw a man, later identified as Leavitt, walking away from the crashed Jeep, the report said.

The off-duty officer said Leavitt was carrying a large glass jar filled with "nuggets" of marijuana and that she identified herself as a police officer and ordered Leavitt to stop, but he ignored her and sped away from the scene in the direction of Route 110, according to the police report. The officer told police she tried to help the injured female driver of the Jeep while waiting for rescue workers to arrive and that she had to repeatedly tell the passenger not to move the injured woman, the report said.

When police asked Leavitt why he didn't pull over to the side of the road, contact police and stop chasing the Jeep, Leavitt said he just wanted to get the vehicle's plate number and follow it home so he could tell the person's mother about the theft from his car, according to police reports. When asked by police why he didn't stay at the scene of the crash, Leavitt said he was afraid of the Jeep's passenger, Penney, according to the reports.

Leavitt said he later contacted police by cell phone after stopping in an area near the Howe Street Market in Methuen, miles from the crash site.

Police said Penney, who received minor injuries in the crash, told them the driver of the BMW knew he had a jar of "weed' in the Jeep and that Leavitt was trying to get it.

After Leavitt stopped his vehicle in Methuen, he was given a ride by Methuen police and met up with Haverhill police officers who brought him to the station.

The police report said Leavitt's BMW received "heavy damage" to the right front bumper/quarter area, which police said was consistent with the statement given by the off-duty West Newbury officer.

As Clarke lay trapped behind the wheel of the crashed Jeep, residents of Middle Road rushed to her aid.

"My baby, my baby," Clarke moaned from inside the Jeep, which lay on its driver's side in the woods about 15 feet from the edge of the road.

Police said that when rescue workers arrived, Clarke was pinned in the driver's seat, had cuts all over her body and a bloody nose. She told police she was experiencing severe abdominal pain and was afraid she would lose her baby.

Penney, who was able to climb out of the Jeep before rescue workers arrived, later told police that he and his friend Clarke had gone to Riverside Park in an attempt to sell marijuana, but the buyer they met did not have any money so they left without making the sale, according to police reports.

Watch eagletribune.com for developments. More coverage will appear in Thursday's Eagle-Tribune.

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