NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A Vermont man accused in the death of his 3-year-old son following a weekend accident in Clarksburg pleaded not guilty on Monday morning to numerous charges. 

 

Darrel Galorenzo, 35, of Readsboro was arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court on charges of manslaughter, reckless endangerment of a child, negligent operation of a motor vehicle (operating to endanger) and operating under the influence.

 

The defense requested $5,000 bail but Judge Janine Simonian set bail at District Attorney Timothy Shugrue's request of $250,000 cash. Galorenzo had been held by State Police at the Cheshire barracks on $100,000 bail since Saturday.

 

A pretrial conference will occur in Northern Berkshire District Court on May 8. Shugrue said the case will be presented to a grand jury.

 

Galorenzo was involved in a rollover motor vehicle accident about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. The car he was in, a Volvo, smashed into a utility pole near 443 Middle Road. Police say he tried to flee the scene with his son and entered nearby Hudson Brook and lost the boy. The brook flows alongside Middle Road and the waters are currently high from snow melt. 

 

The boy was found by searchers more than a half-mile away at about 2:20 p.m. A trooper and firefighters pulled the toddler from the brook and EMTs began immediate emergency first-aid on scene for drowning injuries. The child was pronounced dead at Berkshire Medical Center in North Adams.