A Brookline woman pleaded not guilty to drunken driving charges in a Brighton court Monday after hitting a Boston University student and colliding with two parked cars on Commonwealth Avenue early Saturday.
The 21-year-old School of Management senior hit by the car was in serious condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as of Monday, but she is expected to survive, said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
The student, from Colorado, was struck when she stepped out of a taxi near Shaw’s at Packard’s Corner, according to reports. The driver, Jeonghyun Kim, 25, had a .14 blood-alcohol content level, Wark said. The legal limit is .08.
After the student was hit, Kim allegedly continued driving her Mini Cooper 400 feet before crashing into two parked cars, Wark said. She had been allegedly traveling at high speeds without her headlights on, according to reports.
Kim was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of the accident.
Kim represented herself in court and will appear at a pretrial hearing Oct. 18 in Brighton.
In the aftermath of the collision, Kim told police she had one drink but told Emergency Medical Technicians she had “significantly more,” Wark said.
“I just feel really sorry for the girl,” Kim said last night when reached by phone. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
Kim said she is looking for a lawyer but declined to comment further.
“This is certainly a tragedy for everybody involved,” said Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore. “You’ve got to be careful when crossing streets. A little diligence is going to go a long way. . . . My heart is out to everyone involved.”
Later the same day of the accident, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences junior Isadora Nogueira was injured after being struck by a car on Commonwealth Avenue near the Fitness and Recreation Center. She fractured her leg and received stitches, and was released from the same hospital the next morning.
Angela Marie Latona contributed reporting for this article.
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