A 20-year-old Petersham man who fell while trying to help a woman trapped in a crashed car died Wednesday night after being struck by a State Police cruiser rushing to the scene in Phillipston, authorities said.
Andrew S. Castonguay was one of four good Samaritans who went to the aid of a woman whose car had spun out and rolled over on a Route 2 overpass in the Central Massachusetts town around 8:30 p.m.
According to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., a second vehicle approaching the crash site went into a skid on the icy overpass, and the would-be rescuers scrambled for safety. Castonguay leapt over a fence to avoid being hit, but fell some 30 feet to Route 2A below.
Moments after he landed, Trooper Mical O'Brien, who was responding to the crash with emergency lights activated, spotted Castonguay lying in the road and tried to avoid striking him, authorities said. But "the cruiser did hit Castonguay," Early's office said.
Castonguay was rushed to Athol Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 9:30 p.m. It was unclear yesterday whether his fatal injuries were a result of the fall or the impact of the cruiser.
In a telephone interview, Castonguay's father said he was not surprised his son went out of his way to help a stranger. James Castonguay said: "That's the way he was raised. If someone is hurt, you stop and try to help. He was a good boy."
His son, who worked at a Friendly's restaurant in Greenfield, was driving home from his girlfriend's home in Royalston, said James Castonguay, who has two younger daughters.
He said his son was a recent graduate of Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, where he played trumpet in the band. He loved Formula One car racing, his father said.
Castonguay said he was not a "spiteful or hateful man" but was very upset that the trooper had not come to the family home and expressed his sorrow for his role in the accident.
"What kind of a human being would do that to somebody and not go to the family?" the father asked.
State Police assigned to Early's office are investigating the fatality. O'Brien remains on active duty, State Police said.
The motorist who had been trapped in the overturned car suffered minor injuries, and no one in the skidding vehicle was seriously hurt.
Neither they nor the other would-be rescuers could be reached for comment yesterday.
