Massachusetts State Police trooper injured after cruiser struck by wrong-way driver on Route 1 in Peabody
An alleged wrong-way driver is facing charges in connection with a crash that injured a Massachusetts State Police trooper on Route 1 in Peabody early Sunday morning. The incident comes less than a month after Trooper Kevin Trainor was hit and killed by a wrong-way driver on the same highway in neighboring Lynnfield.
Shortly before 2 a.m., a trooper from the Danvers Barracks observed the driver traveling south in the northbound lanes, a State Police spokesperson said.
"The Trooper took immediate action and notified fellow Troopers," said Sarah Burgess, Chief Community Affairs Officer for the State Police. The troopers then "formulated a plan to stop vehicles from entering the roadway," and stop the driver, Burgess said.
The wrong-way driver, identified as 41-year-old Lucas Gustavo Brajak DeAlmeida Benedetto of Newburyport, then struck one of the responding troopers in his marked cruiser, according to State Police.
The trooper, who has not been identified, and Benedetto, were taken to a local hospital by EMS. The trooper suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Benedetto was released from the hospital and charged with several offenses including OUI liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and driving the wrong way on a state highway. Benedetto is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Peabody District Court.
Earlier this month, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor was killed stopping a wrong-way driver on Route 1 north in Lynnfield. The driver who struck Trooper Trainor was also killed.
The trooper who was injured early Sunday was a member of the 88th Recruit Training Troop and a classmate of Trooper Trainor, the State Police Association of Massachusetts said.
Wrong-way driving legislation
State Senator Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) has been pushing for comprehensive legislation to curb wrong-way driving in the state.
"It could have been much worse, and unfortunately, we've seen incidents recently where they have been worse," Tarr said. "We saw the tragic loss of Trooper Kevin Trainor, who sacrificed his life to save others. We saw the loss of Chris Dailey. We saw loss of Sgt. Jeremy Cole from the Endicott Police Department. We see this continuing to happen, and we know that when a driver doesn't self-correct, the results can be catastrophic."
Tarr's effort began a year ago after 18-year-old Christopher Dailey, a recent high school graduate in Gloucester, died from injuries sustained when a car he was in was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver.
"The legislation that we've offered is a comprehensive approach to using the best practices that we know of to reduce wrong way arriving," Tarr said. "Painting directional striping on access ramps, using lane dividers where those are appropriate, using high technology devices to detect a wrong way driver, to alert them that they're going the wrong way, and to alert law enforcement officials that that threat is present so that they can take the kind of action that the Massachusetts State Police took last night."
Tarr said in Connecticut, where they have high technology devices installed, incidences of wrong-way driving have been reduced by 86%. "We know that we can reduce the odds of what happened again last night on Route 1 in Peabody from happening again in Massachusetts," Tarr said.
