Wrong-Way Driver Crashes Into Ambulance on Mass Pike

State police early Wednesday used stop-sticks to halt a wrong-way driver on the Massachusetts Turnpike right before the driver crashed into an ambulance.

On Nov. 11 at around 3:05 a.m., a trooper on patrol on the pike in Brighton saw a speeding and erratic Nissan Versa driving west in the eastbound lane during a period of light traffic, state police said in a media release. The Trooper reversed direction, caught up, and tried to get the driver to pull over. Troop H ordered the trooper to cease the wrong-way chase and the trooper complied,  The Nissan sped another three miles on the wrong side of the roadway.

Simultaneously, several troopers were at the Natick Service Plaza for a prior call concerning a man with a gun. Those Troopers were notified of the approaching vehicle and deployed stop sticks across the eastbound lane. The suspect vehicle hit the stop sticks and traveled for another 12 seconds before striking the ambulance. Troopers at the Service Plaza immediately rendered emergency medical aid to all victims, state police said.

Two Vital Ambulance personnel, men ages 45 and 38, were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with minor injuries. The ambulance passenger, a 49-year-old woman, was the subject of a non-critical transport at the time of the crash. She was taken to Tufts Medical Center with minor injuries.

The wrong-way operator, an adult male, was transported to MGH with serious injuries and remains in critical condition. He had no identification on him at the time of the crash and police were working to confirm his suspected identity. State police said criminal charges are pending, and that the Nissan had a license plate belonging to another vehicle attached to it.

The facts and circumstances of the incident remain under investigation by Troop H of the Massachusetts State Police with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.