June 3, 2009 — The grandfather of a nine-year-old boy who died over the weekend after falling out of a moving pickup truck was arrested and charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter.
A Police investigation found David Beausoleil, 63, negligent for allowing Rasean Sanderson to ride in truck bed, according to a Police Department press release.
Beausoleil's bail was set at $25,000, which he has posted. He remains out on bail pending an advice of rights hearing in V.I. Superior Court.
Sanderson and two other minors were sitting on a tool box in the back of the truck, along with a 42-year-year old man. The pickup was driving on the east end of St. Thomas and, as it turned the corner near the Buddha Bar in Estate Frydenhoj, Sanderson slid off the left side of the tool box and into the roadway, striking the side of his face. He was taken by ambulance to the Schneider Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
