Juvenile Driver Faces Criminal Charges After Fatal Bellingham Crash
A juvenile is facing criminal motor vehicle homicide charges after allegedly driving into and killing a 60-year-old Rhode Island man in Bellingham on Monday afternoon.
Bellingham police report that the killing occurred around 12:44 p.m. on Monday afternoon near 120 South Main Street, in a suburban residential neighborhood that’s located about one mile from the town’s border with the city of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Police say that the victim, who has not yet been publicly identified, lived in Woonsocket and was riding his bicycle along South Main Street when a driver struck him.
Bellingham emergency medical technicians transported the victim to the Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, where he was later pronounced dead.
Police say that the alleged perpetrator, who has also not been identified, remained on the scene after the crash and also received medical treatment.
Police say the suspect is from the town of Sutton, which is about 15 miles northwest of Bellingham.
The crash remains under investigation. However, based on the findings of a preliminary investigation, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office is taking the rather unusual step of filing criminal charges against the alleged killer.
Those charges include motor vehicle homicide, a marked lanes violation, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
Although Bellingham is technically in Norfolk County, under state law, the town is under the jurisdiction of Worcester County’s court system.
South Main Street is a 2-lane roadway with wide shoulders and a single sidewalk on its eastern curb. The crash site is located about two blocks away from a neighborhood elementary school and about 0.4 miles from the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, a rail-trail that skirts the Massachusetts-Rhode Island border.
MassDOT’s road inventory indicates that the roadway’s speed limit is 40 mph.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
