Cops: Driver With 100+ Arrests Hits, Kills Grammy-Nominated Bassist

A Rhode Island musician who earned a Grammy nomination was killed Saturday in a crash involving a driver with a lengthy criminal record, according to police.

Roderick Macleod, 70, was walking his dogs along a road in Hopkinton around 7:20 a.m. when a car reportedly veered out of its lane, struck multiple objects, and hit him on the shoulder of the road, the Hopkinton Police Department said. Macleod, a former member of the blues band Roomful of Blues in the 1980s and a 2014 inductee into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he later died, CBS News reports. Local media said at least one of his dogs survived and ran home. Friends and fellow musicians remembered Macleod, who had a decades-long career in the music industry, NBC 10 reports.

Police identified the driver as 41-year-old Shannon Godbout. Authorities say she was traveling eastbound when she struck two telephone poles before hitting Macleod. Officers allegedly found “numerous illegal narcotics and packaging materials commonly associated with drug distribution” in her possession at the scene. Godbout was arrested and taken to a hospital, where she remained in custody as of Monday. She faces charges of driving so as to endanger resulting in death, and possession of narcotics with intent to distribute.

Police noted Godbout has an extensive criminal history: more than 100 prior arrests, including eight in Hopkinton, 40 traffic citations, and 82 court warrants. Authorities said additional charges related to the crash could be filed as the investigation continues, WAFB reports.

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