The family of Sylvia Bogusz listens as Heidi Harrall is arraigned yesterday on drunken-driving charges after she allegedly struck the 17-year-old girl on Route 1 in South Kingstown.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy Mary Murphy

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — High school graduate Sylvia Bogusz did everything right when her car had a flat on Route 1 early Saturday. The 17-year-old honor roll student flicked on her emergency lights, called for help, left the car and stood on the grassy shoulder, away from the traffic.

But she couldn’t avoid alleged drunken driver Heidi L. Harrall, arraigned in District Court, South Kingstown, yesterday for driving under the influence resulting in serious injury and driving with reckless disregard for the safety of others, both felony counts.

Harrall, 45, of 117 Omer Drive, tried to pass another car, lost control of her 1994 Audi and struck Bogusz as she stood on the shoulder, according to the police. Yesterday, Bogusz’s mother wept as Judge John M. Loughlin ordered Harrall be held without bail on previous charges. On the new charges — including a refusal to take a chemical test — he set a surety bail of $5,000.

Bogusz’s mother, Grazyna, was joined by other family members, including two sons. They avoided reporters and TV crews camped outside the courthouse.

Yesterday morning, doctors at Rhode Island Hospital upgraded Bogusz’s condition from critical to serious. Her condition remained unchanged through the day, said spokeswoman Andrea Barbosa.

According to court records, Harrall was allegedly drinking and driving fast when she tried to pass a car in the high speed lane on the left. Harrell, driving south on Route 1, crossed the yellow line next to the median and then lost control of her Audi. She swerved back across the road and drove into the grassy shoulder where she missed Bogusz’s car but struck the young woman, who graduated from South Kingstown High School a week ago Monday.

Harrall’s Audi rolled over once and stopped a few feet in the woods near the Green Hill Beach exit off Route 1, near the Charlestown line.

“It’s an absolute nightmare for the family,” said Police Capt. Jeffrey Allen.

Bogusz, he said, did everything she could to ensure her safety. “She pulled over in a safe manner and distanced herself from oncoming traffic.”

According to Allen, Harrall was charged with two counts of vandalism in South Kingstown last year. The charges stem from a complaint that Harrall damaged a garage door and tore up a neighbor’s lawn by driving across it.

Harrall was also charged by North Kingstown police for disorderly conduct earlier this year.

Harrall was sent to the Adult Correctional Institutions. Her next court appearance is July 2, Allen said.

Nearly a decade ago, a drunken driver killed another South Kingstown student on the same stretch of road after the student stopped to help some classmates change a tire.

John Sisson, a junior and an Eagle Scout, died shortly after a Charlestown man driving with a suspended license struck him. He died in his father’s arms at Rhode Island Hospital.

The driver was sentenced to 25 years in jail, with 10 to serve and 15 years on probation. He also injured two teenage boys when he plowed his Honda into them in the breakdown lane on May 22, 1998.

The accident spurred Sisson’s father, Thomas, to call for stronger laws against drunken drivers.

pdavis@projo.com