Police Officer Kills Pedestrian in Brockton

A Brockton Police officer struck and killed a pedestrian with a police cruiser on Main Street in Brockton Friday night, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

The victim – Antonio Tavares, aged 61 – was a Brockton resident.

The Plymouth County D.A. reports that the crash’s alleged perpetrator, an unidentified Brockton Police officer, was responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens activated around 8:19 p.m. Friday night when the officer struck Tavares.

The crash reportedly occurred near 581 Main Street, in a commercial area a few blocks south of Brockton’s core downtown district. There is a crosswalk across Main Street near that address, at Main Street's intersection with Union Street.

“The Brockton Police officer made attempts to stop and avoid the collision and immediately administered aid to the victim,” according to a press release from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

The identity of the officer who was driving has not been confirmed, but the daily police log for the Brockton Police offers some clues.

The log shows that dispatchers received a call for a "disturbance" at 38 Track Street, two blocks from the crash site, and dispatched two police officers, Patrolman Leonard W. Graf and Patrolman Michael G. Fratus, at 8:15 p.m.

According to the log, only Officer Graf arrived at the scene of the disturbance, which was cleared as a "settled" matter within minutes.

The other officer, Patrolman Michael G. Fratus, is listed as the first officer at the crash scene at 581 Main Street at 8:19 p.m.

StreetsblogMASS has inquired to confirm the identity of the Brockton Police driver and the nature of the emergency call to which they were responding, but has received no response so far.

Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office are handling the ongoing investigation.