Man, teen killed on Christmas by suspected drunk driver in wrong-way crash, MA cops say
Two people were killed when a suspected drunk driver collided into two cars on a major state highway late on Christmas night, according to Massachusetts officials.
Multiple people were hospitalized after the crashes on Veterans Memorial Bridge in Somerset at about 11 p.m. Dec. 25, according to a Dec. 26 Massachusetts State Police news release. The highway was shut down for approximately four hours, state troopers said.
The 41-year-old man, who was driving a Land Rover, was heading east in the westbound lanes of Route 6 when he crashed into an Infiniti SUV and a Honda Accord, according to state police.
All six people involved in the crash, including the driver, were hospitalized, state troopers said.
The two people killed in the wrong-way crash were the 73-year-old driver of the Infiniti, as well as a teenage boy sitting in the back seat, state troopers said. They were pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
A front-seat passenger in the Infiniti, a 68-year-old woman, was critically injured in the crash, police said. In the Honda, the driver and passenger — both young women — had non-life-threatening injuries, according to state troopers.
The accused drunk driver, identified as Adam Gauthier, was charged with motor vehicle homicide while under the influence, manslaughter, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, wrong-way operation on a state highway and operating under the influence. The New York City driver remained hospitalized as of Dec. 26, according to police.
State police are investigating the crash.
Somerset is about 20 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island.
