Trooper, 3 others injured in crash

The three-car crash, which seriously injured the trooper, was the latest in a series of accidents involving police on Massachusetts roads.

After the crash, Trooper Steven Larocco and three others were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, said David Procopio, State Police spokesman. Larocco’s injuries were serious, but he was later released, Procopio said.

Larocco had pulled over about 7:17 a.m. to see why a 2008 Jeep Liberty had stopped halfway in the left eastbound lane, when his cruiser was hit by a 2010 Dodge Avenger driven by Robert Murangi, Procopio said.

Larocco was in the car during the crash, which “crumpled the car pretty seriously, all the way into the back seat,’’ Procopio said. The cruiser was forced into the Liberty.

The sole occupant of the Liberty, Martin Prendergast, 23, of Weymouth, and two passengers in the Avenger, Juliana Muthee, 21, and Christopher Munyiri, 26, both of Brockton, were taken to Baystate Medical Center, police said.

Muthee suffered a serious injury, police said in a statement.

The reason why Prendergast had stopped in the road is under investigation, the statement said. Both eastbound lanes in the area of mile marker 63 were closed for three hours.

Murangi, 40, of Federal Way, Wash., was not injured. He was also cited for failure to take care in stopping, the statement said.

On June 18, Sergeant Douglas Weddleton, 52, was killed when an alleged drunk driver struck the vehicle of another alleged drunk driver whom Weddleton was speaking to on Interstate 95 in Mansfield.

The two drivers were charged with operating under the influence of alcohol.

In June and July, five troopers were hit in as many weeks, with four of those crashes tied to alcohol. In less than 24 hours during the July 4 weekend, two troopers were struck and injured by vehicles.

On Oct. 11, Colonel Marian J. McGovern, the head of the State Police, was rear-ended on Route 20 in Shrewsbury by what turned out to be a repeat drunk driver with four prior convictions. McGovern said she was uninjured except for some soreness and a stiff neck.

In addition to state troopers, an off-duty Lowell police officer was killed in September by an alleged drunk driver, and a few days later, a highway worker was killed along Route 9 in Framingham when a pickup truck ran into him. The work site was surrounded by reflective cones and barrels. Again, police allege the driver was drunk.

The state’s Move Over law was bolstered in March 2009, in part by including tougher fines. Drunk drivers hit 20 police cruisers in 2009, according to State Police figures.

Christopher J. Girard can be reached at chrisjgirard@gmail.com.