By Colleen Cronin
Boston Herald
CHICOPEE, Mass. — A State trooper was injured in another wrong-way crash early Saturday morning in Chicopee.
Officers responded to multiple reports of a wrong way driver traveling south in the northbound lane on Interstate 91 around 4 a.m. , according to a statement from the Mass State Police . The callers told police that the driver was going at a high speed.
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Troopers started to form a “rolling roadblock” near Exit 9 on the interstate with their emergency lights on to try to stop the suspect, the statement said.
As the suspect’s car got closer, a trooper was maneuvering a cruiser to stop the driver, but instead, the wrong-way vehicle swerved and crashed into a K-9 officer, then hit another passenger vehicle head on.
The trooper, his K-9, and the other driver were all taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the MSP.
The suspect, identified as Jose Santiago, 28, of Holyoke, was arrested and also taken to a hospital for minor injuries, the statement said.
Santiago has been charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and other offenses, according to the MSP.
“The incident we witnessed this morning in Chicopee is another reminder of the serious danger created when someone makes the reckless decision to drive while impaired,” State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble said in a statement. “I want to commend the bravery and quick actions of our Troopers, whose efforts to stop this wrong-way driver likely prevented further injuries and potentially saved lives.”
The incident is the second wrong-way crash in a week and one of several in Massachusetts in the last three months.
Last Monday, a man allegedly crashed his Porsche 911 on Interstate 95 in Woburn while driving the wrong way. In June, two drivers were killed in wrong-way crashes, and the month before, one state trooper was injured and another trooper, Kevin Trainor, was killed in two separate wrong-way crashes on Route 1.
“Since the tragic loss of Trooper Kevin Trainor in early May, this marks the third incident involving a Trooper being struck by a wrong-way operator. These incidents demonstrate the risks our Troopers and all of law enforcement face every day on our roadways,” Noble said. “The Massachusetts State Police remain committed to enforcing impaired driving laws and holding accountable those whose dangerous decisions put lives at risk.”
Gov. Maura Healey recently signed legislation to make improvements at high-risk locations across the state to try to decrease wrong-way incidents.
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