Naples man indicted for OUI, manslaughter in deadly crash

Sep. 23—A 22-year-old Naples man was indicted this week for manslaughter, operating under the influence and other charges after police allege he was intoxicated when he crashed his pickup truck, killing a 22-year-old relative who was visiting from Pennsylvania.

Police say Chase Weese was out at a Naples bar on March 6 and had consumed multiple drinks before he got behind the wheel of his Chevy 1500 pickup with three other people in the car, court records show.

In the front passenger seat was 22-year-old Ashley Gentile-Wing, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. She died after Weese lost control along a curve on Lambs Mill Road in Naples, crashing into a patch of trees.

Two other passengers were in the truck: Gentile-Wing's boyfriend and his sister, her mother said in a phone interview with the Press Herald Thursday.

Before he lost control, the passengers begged Weese to slow down, said Ashley's mother, Diana Gentile, 49, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania.

Weese was her cousin on her father's side, but had only met Gentile-Wing a few times before, her mother said.

Gentile-Wing was in Maine visiting her boyfriend during her spring break from Penn State University, where she was on track to earn her bachelor's degree in construction management this past spring. Her boyfriend, who was a couple of years ahead of her in school, was hired as a mechanical engineer in Maine. Gentile-Wing had arranged an internship locally and planned to spend the summer together with him.

Police told Gentile-Wing's family that Weese had reached about 77 miles per hour before the truck spun out along a right-hand curve and crashed into some trees. The first officers on the scene found the truck on its side, the passenger compartment crushed and all occupants trapped inside.

"In the car, she was yelling, like, begging the driver to stop driving the way he was, to stop speeding and slamming on the brakes," Gentile said.

Weese was cut from the wreckage and flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Maine Medical Center. Gentile-Wing died instantly, her mother said.

He now faces one count each of manslaughter, felony OUI, felony driving to endanger, felony reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, and misdemeanor driving to endanger. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 17 in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court.

In an interview with investigators, one of the surviving passengers said the group had gone out to Gary's Tavern in Naples around 6 p.m. and left after 11 p.m., according to information contained in a search warrant affidavit. Weese was drinking Vodka-Redbulls that night, a passenger later told police. As he was being extracted from the car, Weese told a firefighter that he was also an occasional cocaine user but it's not clear if he had consumed any that night.

Before the crash Weese had been driving "playfully," one passenger told police, according to the affidavit. His driving was scaring her, the passenger said, and she shut her eyes in fear as he sped along.

After the crash, when a sheriff's deputy went to the hospital to oversee the collection of Weese's blood for drug and alcohol testing, the affidavit says. Weese admitted that he had been drinking.

Weese did not respond to a request for an interview sent via Facebook Thursday. His father, William Weese, declined comment and declined to identify the attorney representing his son.

"Follow the case," Weese said. "I'm not going to give you any information."

Chase Weese has no prior criminal history in Maine.

In a phone interview, Diana Gentile said her family has been torn apart by her daughter's death. Gentile said she raised Ashley since 2001 with the help of her parents in Pennsylvania after she fled a bad marriage to Ashley's father.

Ashley's grandfather was like a father figure to her, Diana said. It was a cherished relationship on both sides. Her father owned a trucking business, and Ashley grew up going to work with him and learning about the trade, Diana said. She was adventurous and kind-hearted, and loved animals, especially horses.

After she rode her first horse in Ireland around age 10, Ashley begged her family for a horse. They eventually relented, and during middle school and high school Ashley took up riding and barrel racing. During college, she became a riding instructor and was in the process of training a new, young horse when she was killed.

Diana Gentile said her daughter was precocious from an early age and wanted to learn how to do everything. She learned from an early age how to operate construction machinery and took an interest in architecture, building and design. She followed that path in college and earned an associate's degree in architecture and was on track to finish her bachelor's degree in construction management.

Diane Gentile accepted both degrees posthumously, she said.

"She could rock a gorgeous gown, she could operate backhoes and heavy equipment," Gentile said. As she grew into a young adult, she and her daughter had become best friends.

"I think it was the reason people have children, the kind of relationship she and I had," she said. "She was such a big part of our family. It's a massive loss. There's a gaping hole that we're all feeling."