NORTH HAVERHILL — A 70-year-old Lyme woman who became distracted by her dog in the front-passenger seat pleaded guilty to vehicular assault on Friday in the death of a pedestrian in Enfield but avoided jail time.
Nancy Allison, who was originally charged with negligent homicide, received a one-year suspended jail sentence, will lose her driver’s license for two years and must perform 400 hours of community service as a result of the misdemeanor conviction and resulting sentence.
She expressed remorse for her actions in the death of John Polinski on Nov. 18, 2017, as he walked along Old Route 10 in Enfield. Relatives of Polinski, a 1962 Enfield High School graduate who later served in the Air Force and worked for Verizon and its predecessor companies for more than 40 years, also spoke at the plea and sentencing hearing in Grafton Superior Court.
Allison became distracted after her small dog vomited and she tried to clean it up while driving. That caused her to veer across the center of the road and hit Polinski, prosecutors said in court.