Cape DA: Victim “Impaired” Before Being Run Over By Cop Car

A Massachusetts prosecutor says a college student who died after being run over by a police cruiser on Cape Cod was high on alcohol and drugs.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe told The Boston Globe that Greg Gagne was ‘‘seriously impaired’’ when he was run over in Chatham early on New Year’s Day. O'Keefe said Gagne had been drinking hard alcohol, but he declined to name the drugs.

The 22-year-old Gagne, of Longmeadow, was a senior government major and lacrosse player at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

Authorities say Gagne was lying on an unlit street at about 4 a.m. Thursday when Chatham police officer Christopher Vardakis ran over him while responding to an emergency call.

Vardakis was placed on leave pending the investigation.