State Police Charge Driver in December Fatal Crash
KEN LAVA, 61, of Chelsea, faces charges of motor vehicular homicide by negligence and marked lanes and break down lane violations. He will be summonsed to Worcester District Court at a later date.
At 9:27 a.m. on December 8, 2009, troopers from the State Police Barracks in Weston responded to a multi-vehicle crash on the westbound side of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Grafton. The crash at the 98.9 mile marker resulted in one fatality and serious injury to a second victim.
Preliminary investigation by Trooper Brian Paquette suggests that a 2006 Freightliner tractor-trailer unit owned by Trans Spec Trucking of Millbury, which was disabled in the breakdown lane and was being serviced, when it was struck by a 2008 Freightliner box truck driven by LAVA. After hitting the tractor-trailer, the box truck struck Dennis Scott, 36, of Whitinsville, who was servicing the disabled tractor-trailer and was standing near that truck's cab. Scott was pronounced deceased at the scene by EMS personnel.
The box truck LAVA was driving was owned by Ryder Truck Rental and leased to Kayem Foods, Inc.
The driver of the disabled tractor-trailer, Tony Benoit, 33, of Charlton, was seated in the cab when his truck was hit. Benoit was transported by ambulance to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester with a serious injury.
After hitting the disabled truck and Scott, the box truck then struck the service truck that Scott had driven to respond to the disabled tractor-trailer. That truck, a 2007 Ford which is also owned by Trans Spec Trucking, was parked in the breakdown lane in front of the tractor trailer.
No further information is available at this time. Please do not call the barracks directly.