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Massachusetts
Mass State Police hire firm to independently review fatal 2023 cruiser crash
The Massachusetts State Police hired an outside firm to review how the agency handled a fatal cruiser crash involving an allegedly drunk officer more than two years after the incident occurred.
State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley is accused of having a blood alcohol level above the legal limit when he crashed his cruiser head-on into a wheelchair van in Dec. 2023, causing injuries to one of its occupants, Angelo Schettino, who later died.
The allegations came to light in a wrongful death suit that Schettino’s family originally filed in Essex County against the van company that now includes the Mass State Police.
The revelation has sent ripples through the state, pausing the Lowell murder trial of brothers Billy, Channa, and Billoeum Phan earlier this month. Quigley had been a key investigator in the case when he was embedded with the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
Middlesex DA Marian Ryan had asked the State Police to initiate the independent investigation after learning about the fatality in the crash and Quigley’s alleged blood alcohol level in January, more than two years after the incident.
“In the interest of transparency and in order to promote public confidence — and to ensure justice for any potential victims — I am requesting that you immediately appoint an independent investigator to conduct a full and fair inquiry into why no notification was made to this office,” she wrote in a Feb 4 letter to State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble.
In Nobel’s reply, dated Feb. 20, he wrote that investigators from the national firm 21CP Solutions will conduct the review, “focused on the handling of this incident and the internal policies and controls that should have ensured timely awareness and notification.”
The independent investigators will examine how the MSP currently handles serious on-duty incidents, including their notification process, supervisor response, and documentation policies.
“A serious incident resulting in the loss of life demands timely notification, rigorous oversight and complete accountability,” Noble wrote. “Any deviation from these expectations is unacceptable, falls short of public expectations and risks undermining confidence in the justice system.”
At the end of the review, the investigators will recommend changes to training, policy, and procedure.
The review will run parallel to a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office investigation into Quigley, examining whether the officer will face criminal charges linked to the crash.
In addition to the independent review, Noble noted that MSP also initiated “internal affairs investigations involving specific individuals.”
“We have also launched refresher training on serious-injury and fatal-crash protocols, escalation responsibilities, and documentation and recording standards,” the colonel wrote, “and strengthened conflict-of-interest screening for incidents involving MSP personnel with cross-agency assignments or relationships.”
Massachusetts
Where was the snowfall jackpot zone in Massachusetts? Some stats from the Blizzard of 2026
The Blizzard of 2026 was moving out to sea Monday night. What’s left behind in its wake is a complete mess. One to three feet of snow with drifts twice as high.
Hundreds of thousands without power. Telephone poles snapped, wires were left hanging, trees and limbs down, cars left stranded.
Blizzard of 2026 stats
Just some of the remarkable stats:
This was the biggest snowstorm in the recorded history of Providence, Rhode Island with more than 37″.
The city absolutely smashed the prior record set back in the Blizzard of ’78.
Blizzard in Boston
The total in Boston as of Monday evening was up to 16.9″.
This puts the city over 60″ for the season, the first above average snowfall season in four years.
This is also the most snow Boston has received in a season since that insane winter of 2014-2015.
It looks like it will fall just short of another top 10 snowstorm in Boston.
Worcester snow
This certainly wasn’t one of Worcester’s biggest storms, but the 16″ from this nor’easter puts the city well over six feet for the winter season to date.
This is Worcester’s snowiest winter season since 2016-2017 when they recorded 78.3″.
Snowfall jackpot zone
The snowfall “jackpot” was, as predicted, across southeastern Massachusetts.
An intense band of snow parked itself right over Plymouth and Bristol counties all day long.
By late afternoon, several communities in this area received more than 30″ of snow. Fall River got 41″ and New Bedford got 37″.
Snowfall rates reached as high as 4-5″ per hour at times in this area.
Massachusetts
Plow truck driver nearly impaled by falling tree branch during Massachusetts blizzard
A snow plow driver in Kingston, Massachusetts narrowly avoided being impaled by a falling tree branch Monday while clearing snow during a blizzard.
The Kingston Police Department shared photos showing a branch that came crashing down. The limb pierced the windshield of the pickup truck.
Police said the branch, which was about six inches in diameter and several feet long, landed between the driver’s legs, “missing impaling him by inches.”
Kingston Fire and Emergency Management also posted a photo from inside the truck that shows the branch wedged underneath the steering wheel.
“Please stay off the roadways. Even those who are trying to keep the roads clear and safe are having difficulties. Luckily there was no injury to the plow operator,” the fire department said.
Police said roads are being plowed, but then become messy immediately as the snow covers them. In addition, winds are blowing branches onto power lines and into the roads.
“There is no sugar-coating this. It’s bad out here. The worst in years and it’s not over yet,” Kingston police said.
Monday’s punishing storm officially was declared a blizzard for many areas in the state. “Considerable falling and/or blowing snow which reduces visibility to less than ¼ mile for 3+ hours AND sustained winds or frequent gusts 35 mph or greater in that same timeframe” is the official criteria of a blizzard.
Several hundred thousand people in Massachusetts are without power during the storm. Some parts of the state have already reported two feet of snow.
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