METHUEN — It was supposed to be Walid Chahine’s last night driving a taxi.
His family had urged him to stop what they considered a dangerous job, but the promise of a profitable Memorial Day weekend was too much of a temptation to give up.
Now, members of his family are questioning the rationale of a state police chase that ended in a crash which resulted in the death of one of Chahine’s passengers and critically injured him and another passenger early last Sunday morning in Somerville.
Chahine, 45, who moved to Methuen from Salem, N.H., earlier this year, remained in critical condition last night at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“It’s probably hour by hour, not day by day,” said Chahine’s sister, Marie Belle Khoury, in an interview yesterday in her brother’s Elmwood Road home. She said doctors described her brother’s outlook as grave.
“All we’re asking you for is just let his heart beat,” Khoury, of Buffalo, N.Y., said she told doctors. “That’s all.”
At 1:24 a.m. Sunday, Chahine’s cab was stopped in a heavily residential area just outside Powderhouse Square in Somerville. Down the road came an SUV, pursued by state troopers.
The SUV crashed into the side of Chahine’s cab, killing a young Tufts University graduate, and critically injuring the man’s girlfriend as well as Chahine.
Khoury said the blame for the accident lies not so much with the suspect Victor Morales, as it does with the state police who chased him.
“I don’t blame the guy,” Khoury said yesterday. “I blame the state trooper.”
Khoury’s husband, Raymond Khoury, said he blames both Morales, 29, of Somerville, and the state police. Why, the Khourys want to know, would a trooper chase so vigorously after someone not wanted for a major crime?
“This is beyond any expectation,” Raymond Khoury said about the shock he felt when he learned of the accident.
The Khourys drove from Buffalo to be with Chahine, his wife, Fida, and other members of his family and friends.
As the Khourys talked about Chahine — how he moved from Lebanon in the 1980s, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Cleveland State University — Chahine’s 4-year-old son Joseph played with his toys, smiling, oblivious to his father’s peril.
“He doesn’t know,” Chahine’s sister said. “(He’s) looking for his dad to walk through the door.”
The Khourys said Chahine’s elderly parents in Lebanon do not know that their son is fighting for his life. Marie Belle Khoury said she plans to call them today and tell them about the accident.
Chahine has two brothers — one living in Florida and another in the Lebanese army stationed in France.
The Chahines lived for the past four years in Salem, N.H. But after considering real estate work, Walid Chahine wanted a home of his own. He chose Methuen, buying his new house in February. Just now, Chahine’s new neighbors are learning of the accident and coming by the house to offer help. They are “very, very sweet people,” Raymond Khoury said. “I just can’t say enough.”
The Khourys said their thoughts are also with the family of Paul Farris, 23, of Medford. Farris, Chahine’s last passenger Sunday morning, was found outside the cab after the accident. The 2006 Tufts University graduate and singer in a Boston-area rock band died in Somerville Hospital.
Farris’ girlfriend, Katelyn Hoyt, was also in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Morales was at the same hospital when he pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges including motor vehicle homicide. Police said he fled from a state trooper in Everett when the trooper tried to pull him over for vehicle violations, investigators said. A chase ensued through Medford and into Somerville, ending when the Mercury Mountaineer that Morales was driving crashed into Chahine’s cab on a residential street just south of the Tufts University campus, investigators said.
A passenger in the SUV was treated for injuries at a hospital before being released.
State police say the accident remains under investigation and have yet to release details, including how fast the SUV was moving when it hit the stopped cab.
Morales faces a variety of charges, including larceny of a motor vehicle, driving with a suspended license and 10 counts of failure to stop or yield. He is being held on $100,000 bail and is due June 29 in Somerville District Court.
Merrimack Valley
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June 1, 2007
Family of critically injured cabbie: Why state police chase?
- Merrimack Valley
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Early morning, two-alarm fire on High Street, Haverhill drives family out of house
HAVERHILL - A two-alarm fire at 71 High St. early this morning left eight people at least temporarily homeless, but not injuries were reported.
Continued ... -
Back on the home front
LAWRENCE — Some eighth graders at Wetherbee School enjoy playing "Call of Duty," a video game about U.S. Marines in combat.
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But yesterday, the students were told flat out war is not a game.
"It's for real and it's for keeps," said Lance Cpl. Daniel Ilacqua, a member of company B, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines. -
Marine gets big welcome
NORTH ANDOVER — When Cpl. Michael Hennessy comes home tomorrow after serving four years in the United States Marine Corps, a huge welcome will be awaiting him.
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The selectmen on Monday night unanimously approved a request to decorate the Old Common with yellow ribbons, flags, bunting and a welcome home banner. Members of the North Andover Patriotic Observance and Marching Committee started working on the display Thursday. - Gym damage forces shift of voting site
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Early morning, two-alarm fire on High Street, Haverhill drives family out of house
