Articles Posted in Vehicular Crimes

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A Boston police officer collided in Mattaphan with a Boston fire truck yesterday afternoon

While Boston Fire Department Ladder 29 was on its way to a reported car accident, and had its lights and siren activated at about 3:40 p.m., it crashed into the police officer who was driving home from work. The officer was driving his silver sport utility vehicle. The accident happened at the intersection of Harvard and Morton streets.

After the impact, both men went their separate ways to separate hospitals, both reportedly suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Apparently, the accident was such that it caused the ladder truck to swing around and crash into a traffic light, knocking it over.

Unsurprisingly, neither identity has been revealed.

While there has been no immediate word on what caused the crash or who crashed into whom. A Boston investigation is being conducted by the police.
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How many times have I said it? “All it takes is one very bad day…or bad moment…or bad decision. Mattapan’s Edwin Depeize, a 63-year-old bus driver ( hereinafter, the “Defendant”) had one such moment yesterday morning.

According to reports, the Defendant, a school bus driver, was stopped by law enforcement so that he could be given a Dorchester traffic citation. Apparently, said citation incensed the Defendant. Perhaps he thought such a ticket was beneath him. This theory would make sense because he immediately did everything possible to up the ante.

Rather successfully, I might add.

First, the Defendant allegedly refused to hand over his license and registration. Next, he argued with the police officer who finally ended the “conversation” by telling the Defendant to drive along his merry way. The Defendant did not feel all that “merry”, and so he sped away instead.

Or tried to.
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Poor Louise Nelson! The 49-year-old Woburn woman (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) must have missed my approximately 450 blogs warning people about involuntary indoctrination into the “Hey, I Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse!” club.

You see, the Defendant apparently had a suspended Massachusetts driver’s license. One usually does not need to be a Boston Traffic Attorney to realize that it is a bad idea to be driving under such circumstances.

However, the Defendant was indeed driving according to law enforcement. They say that, at approximately 10 a.m. this morning, Woburn police contacted the state police after noticing that not only was the Defendant driving, but that her vehicle did not have any license plates. This too, as you may know, is a motor vehicle legal no-no. After the local police tried unsuccessfully to stop her, the Defendant had allegedly refused to stop and, instead, drove onto Route 128. There, state police tried to get her to pull over.

They, too, were apparently unsuccessful.
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Yesterday, Wayne Leduc, 40, of Milton (hereinafter, “Trooper Crasher”) pleaded not guilty to charges of drunk driving and operating to endanger and went home after posting bail. One would hope that he was not his own transportation home, Either way, he had better be careful out there.

Simply put, it seems to be getting more and more dangerous to commute in any way here in the Commonwealth!

Trooper Crasher’s charges resulted from a little problem he is said to have had on Interstate 93 in Quincy. It happened on Sunday morning. According to the Commonwealth, he was involved in accident which injured a state trooper. Oh, yes…and they say he was under the influence of alcohol as well.

Apparently, the 43-year-old trooper had pulled over another vehicle at the spot in Quincy. He was standing in front of his cruiser when Trooper Crasher smashed into the rear of the cruiser, propelling it into the trooper, according to the state police.

The trooper suffered leg injuries and was taken to Boston Medical Center for treatment. Other troopers who responded to the scene arrested Trooper Crasher.

One might think that this type of thing does not happen very often. One would unfortunately be incorrect. For example, last Wednesday, another trooper was seriously injured on Route 30 in Framingham when his cruiser was struck head-on by a car that crossed the median. Further, in the past year, we have had several cases wherein troopers were stuck, sometimes killed, when vehicles struck them on various roads.
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Wiilliam J. Halpin III, a 25-year-old Melrose man (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is likely not looking toward this week with glee. According to the Commonwealth, he was a bit too gleeful Friday night. Self-induced narcotic-type of gleeful. In other words, he is accused of driving his SUV under the influence of drugs. But it does not end there.

He got into an accident which killed one man and wounded a six-year-old boy.

Today, he is due in court to face the resulting charges. The state police arrested and held him at the scene of the accident. The accident took place on Route 1 in Lynnfield. It is also alleged that the Defendant struck one, not two, vehicles.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant drove his SUV into a taxi cab and a second vehicle, both of which were in the breakdown lane near the Fat Cactus restaurant. Ironically, the accident occurred while those two drivers were in the midst of exchanging papers after a different, more minor, crash.

Victor Vargas, a 42-year-old taxi driver from Lynn and father of two, was later pronounced dead at North Shore Medical Center Union Hospital in Lynn.
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Happy President’s Day! I see that the Commonwealth has been celebrating the long weekend by making all presidents, both past and present, grateful that they no longer need to ride public transportation.

Let’s first turn to Lynn first. There, an MBTA bus driver has been suspended after allegedly having a bit of an issue with a passing vehicle. According to an MBTA spokesman, the driver is said to have thrown a coffee into the passing vehicle.

Apparently, the incident took place when the bus was pulling out of a bus stop. It was then allegedly cut off by a pick-up truck. Being mature Massachusetts drivers, the two exchanged heated words. Then, showing a real outbreak of responsibility, the bus driver is reported to thrown a cup of coffee into the truck, striking a passenger.

The truck driver reported the incident to police, and the bus driver was pulled over in Peabody.

The bus driver has been suspended and is now awaiting a court summons.

As unfortunate as the truck driver was, at least he is still alive. You see, another gentleman was actually struck and killed by a red line train in Cambridge this weekend.
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A Roslindale man has allegedly learned a criminal justice lesson on the topic of hit-and-run accidents. Namely, you can hit. You can run. But you cannot hide.

Colin Ratiu, 23 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is the=is unfortunate driver according to the Commonwealth . He was arraigned in court yesterday after pleading “not guilty” to charges of leaving the scene of an accident after causing death, and motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation.

The accident happened in November. The Defendant was using someone else’s car and is said to have explained the damage on the vehicle by saying that when he had swerved to avoid a skunk, he ended up hitting…”something”.

In fact, what the car actually struck was a 24-year-old Northeastern University graduate driving home in a scooter. The scooter was thrown about 150 feet. The graduate was killed.

“He then proceeded to drive away without stopping,” the prosecutor told the judge yesterday.

Homicide detectives began the investigation immediately, but it was not until 89 days after the accident that an anonymous tip led them to the car that had allegedly been driven by the Defendant that fateful night. The damage on the vehicle was consistent with what they were looking for. Upon questioning, the vehicle’s owner told the detectives about the Defendant and his skunk story.
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This past year, there was a lot of attention paid to Massachusetts drunk drivers and those who drive negligently. For example, a new law was passed to prevent people from texting while driving.

We also had more than our fair share of vehicular homicide cases, including the killing of a police officer due to Massachusetts motor vehicle crimes.

There was one vehicular homicide matter, however, that may not have gotten enough attention. I say this only because it happened again.

Two cars were involved in an accident this weekend which left two cars overturned on interstate 495. Fortunately, nobody was killed.

The cause according to the Commonwealth?

One driver, Jenifer M. Scott, 43, of Milford (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) fell asleep and so lost control of her vehicle. A second driver, at 51-year-old man from Harvard, took measures to avoid the Defendant’s Toyota Corolla and, as a result, went over the guardrail and rolled down an embankment. His 56-year-old female passenger was taken to Marlborough Hospital with minor injuries.
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It would appear that this Massachusetts driver thought ahead. Realizing that the coming storm would make it difficult to go out and drink, Ms. Tara Tobin (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) got in one last trip just before the snow. The result was not too pretty.

The Yarmouth police say that the Defendant admitted that she had drunk six or seven beers in Dennis before driving.

What happened? The crash took place Tuesday night around 9 p.m..

The unusual part? According to the police, the Defendant, whatever condition she was in, did not cause the accident.

Apparently, a 47-year-old emotionally disturbed man jumped into the path of a Dodge Dakota pickup truck. The truck’s driver swerved to avoid the man and was then rear-ended by the Defendant’s car..

The man suffered serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries and was taken to Cape Cod Hospital, police said.
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A pedestrian was killed Sunday afternoon outside a Massachusetts State Police barracks in Andover after being hit by an alleged drunk driver. The 30-year-old Bradford woman was walking to her car after leaving the barracks around 3 p.m. when she was struck by a pick- up truck on Route 125.

Robert Bryant, a 50-year-old from Bradford, was arrested and will be charged with motor vehicle homicide, operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and leaving the scene of a crash that caused personal injury. He will be arraigned Monday, December 13th, in Lawrence District Court.

Source: The Boston Globe, Pedestrian killed outside Andover barracks, driver faces OUI charges

This man should immediately hire a criminal defense lawyer to minimize his convictions and penalties (if any). This story shows how those charged with motor vehicle crimes commonly face multiple charges arising from the same incident. It also leaves many questions that may be relevant to a defense unanswered including how the police determined to stop Bradford (since the driver who struck this woman left the scene) and how they came to the conclusion that he was drunk. Bryant’s best bet is to contact an attorney with experience in motor vehicle homicide, OUI, and hit and run who will leave no stones unturned in building his defense.
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