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A 73-year-old man and his 15-year-old grandson died when a suspected drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the road plowed into their car Christmas night, New England authorities said.
The teenager’s grandmother was critically injured and remained at a Providence, Rhode Island hospital Tuesday, according to a statement from the Bristol County, Massachusetts, district attorney.
The crash on U.S. Route 6’s Veterans Memorial Bridge in Somerset, Massachusetts — a town about 20 miles east of Providence — was reported just after 11 p.m. Monday, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.
The driver of a 2023 Land Rover registered in New York was headed east on the westbound lanes of the bridge when he struck a 2014 Infiniti QX50 head-on, police said. The teen and his grandparents were in the Infiniti, the office of District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in the statement.
“This is a terrible tragedy, especially when it occurred on Christmas night,” he said. “My heart grieves for the victims and their family for their terrible loss.”
The family members were identified by Quinn as Floriano Arruda, 73; his wife, Donna Arruda, 68; and their grandson, 15-year-old Jacoby Arruda. All were from Seekonk, Massachusetts, a town just outside Providence, the DA’s office said.
The teenager was pronounced dead Monday night at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, prosecutors said. His grandfather died Tuesday morning at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, they said.
Grandmother Donna Arruda was in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital, according to the DA’s office.
Two women in a 2019 Honda Accord sedan were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after it was also struck by the Land Rover, state police said.
The driver of the Land Rover was identified as Adam Gauthier, 41, of New York City, police and prosecutors said. He was initially treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a Providence hospital, where state troopers had him under guard, state police said.
The DA’s office said it was charging Gauthier with manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol, vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol, drunken driving with serious injury, reckless driving and driving the wrong way on a highway.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Gauthier had retained an attorney for the case. The local public defender’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gauthier was arraigned Tuesday at Saint Luke’s Memorial Hospital in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was ordered held on $100,000 bail, according to the district attorney’s statement.
A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Jan. 9.
Yasmeen Persaud contributed.
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