An outing to celebrate a birthday turned into an unfathomable tragedy for a Franklin family when an alleged drunken driver plowed into their vehicle, killing a 5-year-old girl and seriously injuring her brother and mother.

James Blanchard, 21, of Franklin, allegedly told police that he drank two beers while at a landscaping job Saturday afternoon before he opened a 1.75-liter bottle of Tito’s Vodka and “began drinking straight out of it,” on his way home from Plainville.

The Franklin Police Department responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash with entrapment and one vehicle smoking in the area of 76 Grove St., near a dentist’s office, fitness center and a day spa, at about 6:22 Saturday evening, according to an incident report.

An officer spotted the 5-year-old girl on the ground, struggling, with a civilian supporting her head. As responders cared for the girl, her father, identified as Atulkumar Patel, was “panic-stricken and unable to keep himself composed,” the police report states.

Responders called for a medical flight to take the girl to a hospital. While en route to the landing zone, the girl’s “heart stopped,” the police report details.

Medical personnel pronounced the girl dead at the hospital.

Responders rushed the girl’s mother, later identified as Minaben Patel, 38, and brother, who had just turned 14 on Saturday, to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester with serious injuries.

Atulkumar Patel told an officer that he was driving the sedan, which Blanchard struck, while en route to Blackstone for his son’s birthday, when he saw a truck driving in his lane.

“He tried to avoid being hit by the truck by turning left into the opposite lane of travel,” the police report states, “but they ended up colliding anyway.” The father did not display signs of intoxication, the report adds.

Blanchard is being held on $250,000 cash bail after his arraignment at Wrentham District Court on Tuesday, with conditions for his release including that he be alcohol free, submit to alcohol testing, and that he not drive. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

While at the scene on Saturday, Blanchard told an officer that he was coming from Plainville, where he works, and “then all of a sudden there was a crash.” The officer then asked whether he crossed over into the oncoming lane.

“Blanchard provided an evasive response,” the police report states, “saying that he doesn’t remember too much and that the crash happened very fast.”

The officer noted that he observed the “odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from Blanchard’s direction,” before a responding lieutenant came over and asked the man if he had been drinking after finding two 1.75-liter bottles of Tito’s Vodka and PBR beers in the truck.

“Blanchard delayed his response and said, ‘No, I have not,’” the police report states, but the results of a breath test showed the man’s blood alcohol content at 0.189, more than double the legal limit of 0.08.

During an interview at the Franklin Police Department on Sunday, Blanchard told officers that he bought a 1.75-liter bottle of Tito’s Vodka and a PBR beer at a Plainville liquor store after working as a mechanic Saturday morning, before a landscaping job.

While landscaping, Blanchard said he had two beers and then opened the bottle of Tito’s when he left and “began drinking straight out of it” on his drive home to Franklin.

Blanchard added that the other Tito’s bottle, empty, was from the night before.

A memorial, consisting of a wooden cross, flowers, and stuffed animals, was growing at the scene.

His defense attorney, Timothy Flaherty, requested that he be held on $10,000 cash bail, with conditions for his release to include electronic monitoring and that he enter an alcohol rehabilitation center.

Judge Thomas Finigan approved the prosecutors’ request, setting bail at $250,000, due to the nature of the case and the possibility of Blanchard facing additional charges.

He currently faces charges of motor vehicle homicide while driving negligently and under the influence of alcohol, three counts of operating under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol, and a marked lanes violation.

Blanchard is scheduled to next appear in court on June 24 for a pretrial hearing.

A memorial has grown alongside the road where a 5-year-old girl was struck and killed by an alleged drunken driver in Franklin. (Lance Reynolds/Boston Herald)