Driver From Suffield Sentenced to Prison For 2017 Fatal Crash

NORWICH, CT — A Suffield woman convicted of driving drunk during a June 2017 crash on I-395 which killed a passenger in her pickup truck was sentenced to prison Wednesday in Norwich Superior Court.

Victoria Berube, 24, was sentenced to 16 years in prison, suspended after seven years, plus five years' probation after being convicted Jan. 9 on charges of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, second-degree assault with a motor vehicle and operating under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, according to judicial records.

On June 26, 2017 around 10:50 p.m., a Ford Escape XLT operated by Christopher Fink, 32, of Moosup, was traveling northbound on Interstate 395 in the right-hand lane at the Old Canterbury Turnpike overpass, and Berube was driving behind it in a Ford F-150 pickup truck. Berube changed lanes and collided with the Escape's left rear quarter, causing her truck to lose control, cross over the northbound lanes and crash into the median guard rail, according to a state police report.

The truck collided with the cement support for the bridge and rotated clockwise, crashing through the metal guard rail on the southbound side of the highway and coming to rest in the southbound lane near Exit 18, the report says.

Benjamin St. Pierre, 25, of Enfield, the right front passenger in Berube's truck, was pronounced dead at the scene. Berube and a rear passenger, Eric Lemieux, 26, of Enfield, were transported to Backus Hospital for serious injuries, the report says.

St. Pierre was a 2009 graduate of Enfield High School who then attended cosmetology schools in Enfield and Hartford, and was able to realize his childhood dream of becoming a licensed barber and small business owner. He opened the Somers Barber Shop at 48 South Road in the Southfield Corners Plaza, and planned to plan a barber school to his shop, according to a Facebook post from his mom, Janet.

The Benjamin St. Pierre Scholarship Fund has been established, which will be awarded to a graduate of Enfield High School pursuing a career as a barber or hairstylist. Donations can be sent to: Enfield High School Guidance Department, The Benjamin St. Pierre Scholarship Committee,
1264 Enfield St., Enfield, CT 06082.

To register for free Suffield news alerts and more, click here.