Police address response to fatal crash on Pleasant St.

The driver of a fatal one-car crash on Pleasant Street that occurred in the early morning hours on Christmas Eve has been identified as Craig M. Casey, 30, of Stoughton and formerly of Dedham.

The accident has received widespread media coverage in part because the body of the victim was not located during an initial search of the area by police but rather by a passing motorist around 7 a.m. — approximately one hour after police had cleared the scene.

Addressing the incident in an email to the Citizen, Deputy Police Chief Helena Rafferty said police had initially received a report of a driver “sideswiping a Canton resident in Stoughton and fleeing at a high rate of speed.” A short time later, a resident called to report an accident in the area of Meadows Avenue and Pleasant Street.

Rafferty said when officers arrived at the scene around 5:15 a.m., they found the vehicle unoccupied but having sustained heavy damage. Three officers then searched the area on foot and in cruisers, believing the driver may have fled the scene. The vehicle was towed and a DPW crew cut down a tree that been damaged during the accident.

After the scene had been cleared, Rafferty said police received a call from a motorist reporting that there was a person “sleeping on a lawn of a home near the accident scene.” Police and EMTs responded and found a “deceased male with major trauma.”

At least one media report, appearing in the Brockton Enterprise, questioned whether police did enough to locate the victim during the initial response to the scene. The report cited two law enforcement experts — one who said police should have stayed on scene longer and expanded their search, and another who said that the protocol they followed “looks right.”

According to Rafferty, none of the responding officers or anyone else at the scene, including several neighbors, the tow truck driver, or the DPW workers saw the victim as he was “wearing dark clothing, lying motionless, and it was pitch black out.”

“Although we wish we located him earlier, we do not believe it would have changed the outcome at all,” said Rafferty.

Both the accident on Pleasant Street and the earlier accident in Stoughton remain under investigation by State Police.

Police execute major drug seizure

For the second time in the past month, police intercepted a large quantity of marijuana headed to a Canton delivery center off Route 138. The most recent seizure occurred on December 26 around 1:30 p.m. Working in conjunction with the Massachusetts State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, police conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Turnpike Street and Dan Road and were able to seize 150 pounds of black market marijuana with an estimated street value of $500,000. The driver of the vehicle, Irvin Ulshen, 75, of Ashburnham, pleaded not guilty in Stoughton District Court to the charge of trafficking in marijuana. Deputy Police Chief Helena Rafferty said Ulshen was released after making $2,000 cash bail and ordered to appear in court on January 22.

Canton man charged in alleged apartment break-in

A Canton man is facing a number of criminal charges in connection with an alleged break-in at a vacant apartment at Woodfield Commons (formerly Arboretum Apartments) off Route 138. Management called police on Monday, December 24, after hearing the sound of breaking glass in a vacant apartment and to report a man sleeping in the apartment. Police arrested Jonathan D. Joseph, 25, of 511 Arboretum Way and charged him with breaking and entering for misdemeanor, malicious destruction of property under $1,200, and possession of a Class B substance (cocaine).

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jan 4 2019. Filed under News, Police & Fire. Both comments and pings are currently closed.