After the court proceedings, Hazard's lawyer, Priscilla DiMaio, said, "Obviously [this is] a tragic situation all around, but I hope the family of this poor young woman finds comfort in God's arms." She declined to speak in any detail about her client.

The police say Hazard was driving his Dodge Ram pickup truck in the eastbound lane when he crossed the center line and collided head-on with the Chrysler Sebring driven by O'Toole in the westbound lane, the police said. Hazard's truck flipped onto its roof and slid nearly 400 feet down the dark road, Lang said. Unable to see the black truck on the unlit road, another driver, Oscar Moreau, 43, of Coventry, struck Hazard's truck, Lang said.

When O'Toole didn't return home at her usual time, her husband, Brian, became worried and went out looking for her. He thought her convertible may have struck a deer along the rural road. He returned home, though, after driving only a mile because he thought someone might call him while he was out. After he returned home, the police arrived at his door to tell him his wife had been killed.

As Hazard was being treated at Kent Hospital for a broken ankle, he refused requests from the police to submit to a chemical test for alcohol, Lang said. The police charged him with driving under the influence based on probable cause, Lang said

The crash happened about 2 ½ miles from Hazard's residence, Lang said. Hazard was driving in the opposite direction from his house, and Lang said it wasn't clear where he was going, or whether he'd immediately left his house. The police seized the 911 tapes and found no calls reporting an erratic driver -- just the one call about the fatal crash, Lang said.

As a result of Tuesday's crash, the police also cited Hazard for driving left of center, driving without insurance and driving with an expired registration.

As of 12:38 p.m., he had not posted bail, according to the Kent County Court.

-- With reports from Maria Armental, Journal staff writer