The driver who killed two people this summer when he crashed his car into a hotel shuttle near Logan Airport was operating under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, prosecutors said Monday.
Steven Birenbaum, 27, of Swampscott was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including two counts of manslaughter for driving while drunk and two counts of manslaughter for driving while under the influence of drugs.
Birenbaum quickly posted $5,000 in bail and left the courthouse with his lawyer.
Prosecutors said Birenbaum had been charged in 2012 with drunken driving in Miami. The charge was reduced to reckless driving, records show. A Miami-Dade County judge withheld a decision in the case, which typically happens after a probation sentence. He was not convicted.
In August, Birenbaum was driving a Subaru Legacy eastbound on Interstate 90 in East Boston around 1 a.m. when he crashed into a shuttle taking four passengers to the Hampton Inn in Revere, said Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Philip C. Cheng.
Traveling at 76 miles an hour in a 40 mile per hour zone, Birenbaum barreled into the back of the shuttle, causing both vehicles to lose control. Each struck roadway barriers twice before coming to a complete stop, Cheng said. Shuttle passengers Joseph Rodriguez, 59, and Sandra Luz Arreola, 56, both of El Paso, Texas, were thrown from the rear window and killed.
The driver of the shuttle was injured, as were two other passengers, including Rodriguez’s wife, Irma, prosecutors said.
Birenbaum was also hurt. Tests showed his blood alcohol level was .15, nearly double the state’s legal limit of .08 percent, Cheng said.
Tests also revealed the presence of THC, the active chemical in marijuana, Cheng said.
Birenbaum “admitted that he had one beer earlier in the evening and that he takes Adderall for his ADHD,’’’ Cheng said.
After the crash, Birenbaum told one of the crash victims and an emergency medical technician that another car had hit him from behind, then drove away. No such vehicle can be seen on security cameras, prosecutors said, and a witness who called 911 said he did not see a third vehicle.
Reached by phone on Monday, Irma Rodriguez, 57, said she was “not ready to talk’’ about the crash.
“I’m still very sad,’’ she said.
Birenbaum’s attorney, Joseph Monahan III, said his client feels “terribly’’ about the fatal crash.
“This is an unfortunate tragic accident,’’ Monahan said. He declined to comment about the details of the case.
Irma Rodriguez and her husband had come to Boston to help a friend move into Northeastern University, Rodriguez told the Globe in August.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the case highlights the difficulties with determining THC impairment.
“It’s a proven fact that driving under the influence of marijuana is every bit as dangerous as it is for alcohol, but unlike alcohol, we don’t yet have a way to quantify a driver’s impairment from marijuana,’’ Conley said in a statement.
“Policy makers should be aware of this knowledge gap and take steps to bridge it if we expect to identify and prevent THC impairment among drivers.’’
John R. Ellement of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Jan Ransom can be reached at jan.ransom@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Jan_Ransom.
