Driver charged in latest wrong-way crash on Route 1 involving Massachusetts State Police due in court

The accused wrong-way driver who crashed into a Massachusetts State Police cruiser last weekend on Route 1 in Peabody is due in court Tuesday.

Lucas Di Benedetto, 41, of Newburyport, will be arraigned in Peabody District Court on drunk driving and several other charges related to the crash early Sunday morning.

State Police said Di Benedetto was driving south on the northbound side of the highway around 2 a.m. Moments later, his car crashed into a trooper's cruiser. Both were taken to the hospital, treated for injuries and released.

The trooper has not been identified. Di Benedetto was charged with OUI liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and driving the wrong way on a state highway.

It was the second high-profile wrong way crash on Route 1 in the last month. Trooper Kevin Trainor and the driver who hit him were both killed in a crash in Lynnfield on May 6.

The trooper who was hurt in Sunday's crash was in the same recruit training class as Trainor, according to the state police union.

Massachusetts currently has 16 locations with wrong-way detection software as part of a pilot program to stop wrong-way drivers. Connecticut has more than 200.

Peabody, Massachusetts is about 20 miles north of Boston.