Surveillance Video Shows Driver Buying Medical Marijuana Before Crash That Killed Trooper
WORCESTER (CBS) - Surveillance video shows a man buying medical marijuana hours before a fatal crash involving a State Police trooper.
Prosecutors say David Njuguna was high on marijuana when he crashed into Trooper Thomas Clardy's cruiser on the Mass Pike in 2016.
Njuguna says he suffered a seizure.
On Tuesday, prosecutors called to the stand an employee of a marijuana dispensary in Brookline. He testified that he sold marijuana to Njuguna on March 16th of 2016. A couple hours later, Njuguna's car flew across the highway in Charlton and crashed into Clardy's cruiser, killing the trooper.
A nurse who treated Njuguna also testified and said she asked Njuguna about his marijuana use. "He had a prescription for medical marijuana," said Nancy Isabella, a nurse at UMass Memorial Medical Center. Isabella said Njuguna told her "it had been several months" since he last used marijuana.
Njuguna also told the nurse he fell asleep at the wheel just before the crash. This is a bench trial, meaning there is no jury in this case, instead a judge will decide guilt or innocence.