Thursday, 4:30 PM
Police plan to charge Hopkinton town manager in fatal crash
(David G. Curran for The Boston Globe)
Bourne firefighters cut away the roof of the car driven by Anthony J. Troiano, the Hopkinton town manager.
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
State Police plan to file motor vehicle homicide charges against the Hopkinton town manager because investigators allege he was speeding and driving so negligently last week that he caused the death of a 69-year-old woman in a late-night crash on Cape Cod.
Anthony J. Troiano, 51, has remained in a coma at Rhode Island Hospital since the May 15 crash in Bourne that killed Lilija Berents. Troiano was driving home from a Board of Selectmen meeting in Hopkinton, which is about an hour from his home in Sandwich, said his attorney, Augustus F. Wagner Jr.
"He's just a very decent guy who has been involved in a very tragic accident," Wagner said today in a telephone interview, adding that he has not been able to speak to his client since the meeting because of his injuries.
According to police, Troiano was driving his 2004 Hyundai sedan at 11:18 p.m. when he tried to pass another vehicle and struck Berents's 1999 Toyota sedan head-on. Berents was not wearing a seat belt and was killed when she was thrown from her car.
Accident reconstruction specialists are still trying to determine how fast Troiano was driving, said Trooper Eric Benson, a State Police spokesman. The posted speed limit on that stretch of Sandwich Road is 45 miles per hour.
In addition to motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, State Police plan to cite Troiano for speeding, failure to pass safely, and a marked lane violation. A hearing has been scheduled for June 11 in Falmouth District Court, but it is unlikely that Troiano will be well enough to attend, Wagner said.
