Shaftsbury man accused of driving into his friend denies manslaughter charge

A Dorset man is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly losing control of his vehicle in his friend’s driveway, striking and killing him.

Arthur Coons, 67, of Shaftsbury, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to the felony charge and was released on conditions, including that he keep the court informed of his address and phone number.

Vermont State Police issued Coons a citation into court for the arraignment on the charge in late October following an investigation into the May 31 death of 39-year-old Philip Mecik of Dorset outside his Mecik’s home.

“It’s horrific because they were best friends,” Matthew Hart, Coons’ attorney, said this week. 

“We look forward to getting an explanation, if we can, as to why this accident happened,” Hart added. “It was definitely not an intentional act.”  

Bennington County Deputy State’s Attorney Jared Bianchi, reached this week, declined to comment.

Detective Sgt. Nicholas Grimes wrote in an affidavit filed in support of the charge that Mecik’s mother called 911 early in the evening on May 31 reporting that her son was pinned between their garage and a vehicle that had been driven by Coons. 

First responders pronounced Mecik dead at the scene, Grimes wrote. Investigators saw that the residence’s garage door was damaged and Coon’s vehicle, a 2019 Toyota 4-Runner, had heavy front-end damage, the affidavit stated. 

The two men had been working that day on a renovation project in the basement of Mecik’s home when in the early evening Mecik’s mother reported hearing “catastrophic” sound, “like a meteorite striking the residence,” Grimes wrote.

The mother reported that Coons told her he had hit a rock when backing up his vehicle in the driveway and that he was pressing the brake and trying to stop and that his transmission was not working properly, the affidavit stated. 

She then asked Coons where her son was before she began looking for him inside the residence, Grimes wrote.

When Mecik’s mother went back outside Coons had moved his vehicle and she saw her son lying on the ground near the damaged garage door, according to the affidavit. 

Coons, in an interview with investigators, called Mecik his best friend, and after finishing for the day working on the renovation project at Mecik’s home he packed his tools in his vehicle, waved goodbye to Mecik and started to back up, Grimes wrote. Coons reported that while backing up he struck a rock between a paved driveway and a gravel driveway, the affidavit stated.

“After striking the rock, Arthur put the vehicle into drive and the vehicle started rolling,” Grimes wrote. “Arthur claimed that when he put his foot on the brake, the vehicle ‘took off’ across the driveway.”

Coons reported that he saw that he hit the garage and started yelling for Mecik, who he couldn’t initially see or find. Then Coons discovered after backing up that he had struck Mecik, who did not have time to get out of the way, the affidavit stated. 

Information from the vehicle’s data recorder showed that Coons depressed the accelerator and failed to brake, the affidavit stated. 

“Being aware of Philip’s location in the driveway, Arthur continued to steer his vehicle in the direction of Philip while accelerating,” Grimes wrote. “Arthur failed to brake and failed to steer his vehicle in a direction to avoid colliding with Philip.”

The detective added, “Arthur operated his vehicle in a negligent manner, grossly deviating from the care that an ordinary person would have exercised, leading to a crash that resulted in death to a pedestrian.”

If convicted of the charge, Coons faces up to 15 years in jail.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Shaftsbury man accused of driving into his friend denies manslaughter charge .