An 18-year-old driver is in the hospital after a deadly accident, but the authorities decided to arraign him while in the medical center. The crash took four lives, and he’s facing homicide charges.
The accident in question happened on Jan. 17, and the driver was brought to Baystate Medical Center for treatment. He spent weeks in critical condition. Pictures from the arraignment show him lying still in a bed with bandages covering one eye and the side of his face.
The young man was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee when police tried to stop him. He did not have a driver’s license and the Jeep was stolen. Officers got out of their car to walk up to him after pulling him over, and he then took off.
His run from the police did not last for long. He was apparently going 60 MPH down Union Street — even though the speed limit is 30 MPH — and the Jeep went out of control. It slammed into a tree, and the vehicle was so badly mangled that the Springfield Fire Department had to cut out the five people inside.
Four of those individuals, including the driver, were taken the local medical center. One was already dead at the crash site. In the month since, the others have passed away and now only the driver is left alive.
Accidents like this are often hard for family members to really comprehend, and the emotional trauma can be incredible. Financial compensation is not going to ease that pain, but families could still be facing significant medical bills, funeral costs, and the like, so it’s important for them to know their legal options.
