Press Release: Gloucester Car Crash Claims Teenage Life
An 81-year-old Reading man, Laurence Hayes, pleaded not guilty to charges of motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation and two civil infractions following a tragic car crash in Gloucester. The incident, which occurred on June 30, resulted in the death of Christopher Dailey, a 17-year-old Gloucester High School hockey co-captain, who succumbed to injuries on July 4.
During his arraignment on Tuesday, Hayes was released under conditions of home confinement with GPS monitoring and must refrain from driving. Prosecutors revealed that Hayes was allegedly driving against traffic on the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge when his Honda collided with a Toyota carrying four teenagers. The driver of the Toyota reported attempting to evade Hayes’s vehicle, but the two cars ultimately struck each other, causing the Toyota to flip over.
Eyewitness accounts and court documents indicate that Hayes had used his cellphone shortly before the crash. Following the incident, he expressed his emotional distress to troopers, saying, “I’m not innocent in this.” Hayes is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on September 23.
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