Five weeks after the crash that killed Haverhill’s Jordan Rankin, Methuen High School baseball star Owen Foote was arrested and charged with her death. (WHAV News photograph)
Methuen High School baseball standout Owen Foote has been arrested and charged with the Sept. 24 death of Haverhill High School senior Jordan Rankin. Appearing in Haverhill District Court Wednesday, 19-year-old Foote was arraigned on charges of motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, speeding and failure to stop.
Judge Patricia Dowling ordered Foote held on $5,000 cash bail and imposed a curfew of 5 p.m.-5 a.m. for the teen, who works for his father’s landscaping company Proscape and was driving a company vehicle at the time of the crash. Foote will be outfitted with a GPS monitoring device but is allowed to work. Dowling also told Foote he cannot drive and must stay away from witnesses in the case.
He was represented in court by Boston-based attorney Benjamin P. Urbelis, who said he was hired by Foote’s father the morning after the accident.
According to a police report read into the court record by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Sholds, Foote admitted that he was looking down as he allegedly blew through a stop sign at the intersection of Liberty and Crystal Streets. The black box recorder inside the Chevrolet Silverado Foote was driving recorded a speed of 70 MPH at the time of the crash, more than double the residential area’s posted 30 MPH speed limit.
Foote was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, police said. A search of his vehicle found marijuana and related paraphernalia, but Foote “did not exhibit any indicators or symptoms that he was under the influence,” according to Haverhill Police Sergeant Kevin F. Lynch.
On Oct. 30, Lynch requested an arrest warrant be issued for Foote—five weeks after the crash took place.
Rankin, a 17-year-old multi-sport athlete, died at Beth Israel Hospital. She leaves behind her parents John and Cindy and siblings Johnny and Julia Rankin.