TV movie critic Gene Shalit faces charge in connection with car crash

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FILE - In this May 31, 2006 file photo, film critic Gene Shalit is seen during a toast with "Today" show cast and crew at the end of Katie Couric\'s final show, in New York. Shalit, 86, faces a charge of driving to endanger after his vehicle struck a utility pole and came to rest against a home in Lenox, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012, according to police. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

LENOX, Mass. – Television movie critic Gene Shalit faces a charge of driving to endanger after his vehicle struck a utility pole and came to rest against a home in western Massachusetts.

Lenox police say the 86-year-old Shalit told Chief Stephen O’Brien, who was first on the scene of Wednesday afternoon’s crash, that he fell asleep at the wheel.

Shalit has received a summons to appear before a clerk magistrate in Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington at a future date.

Shalit, known for his bushy hair and moustache, was unhurt. His vehicle was towed and the home suffered minor damage.

Shalit reviewed movies for NBC’s “Today” show from 1973 until he retired in 2010. He lives in neighbouring Stockbridge.

A number for Shalit could not immediately be found.

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