State Police Investigating Fatal Crash in Wilmington

At 11:26 a.m. today, troopers assigned to the Massachusetts State Police Barracks in Andover responded to calls reporting a pedestrian struck by an oil tanker on Route 93 northbound in Wilmington, between Exits 39 and 40. Evidence indicates that the victim, an adult male, was struck and killed in the rightmost travel lane while returning to his car after picking up a hubcap in the median strip.

The man's name, age, hometown and make and model of vehicle are being withheld pending proper notification of next of kin.

Preliminary investigation by Trooper James M. McTeague indicates that the victim parked his vehicle in the breakdown lane on the northbound side of the highway, exited the car, and crossed all four traffic lanes on foot to retrieve a hubcap he had seen in the median strip. That stretch of highway has a grassy median with a guardrail. After picking up the hubcap - which had not come from his own vehicle - the man began crossing back toward his car. He made it across the left lane and both middle lanes, but was struck while he was in the rightmost travel lane, adjacent to the breakdown lane. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The victim was struck by a 2007 Mack truck carrying oil operated by Daniel Hoagland, 40, of Hudson, N.H. The truck is owned by Fred Fuller Oil Co., Inc., of Derry, N.H.

The investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the crash is being conducted by Troop A of the Massachusetts State Police with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section. Troopers were also assisted at the scene by the Wilmington Fire Department and the Highway Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

During the crash investigation, only one lane of traffic remained open. All lanes have been reopened.

No further information is being released at this time. Please do not call the barracks directly.