BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - An off-duty Hanover police officer was arrested Monday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run in Brockton, according to Hanover police.
Thomas Hayes, 36, is charged with Motor Vehicle Homicide and Leaving the Scene of an Accident Following personal Injury or Death.
Early Monday morning, Brockton police said they received reports of an unresponsive person in a snowbank near the intersection of Battles Street and Cross Street. First responders took the person, later identified as Alfredo Alves, 23, to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
In the hours after the crash, authorieis said a witness voluntarily reported to Brockton police that they were a passenger in the Ford Explorer that fatally hit Alves. The witness identified Hayes as the driver.
The witness, along with another passenger who spoke to police, said that the Ford Explorer sustained damage during the crash, including a broken windshield. Police said they found the Ford Explorer in Hayes’ driveway and surveillance video showed Hayes was driving the car.
“Just minutes after leaving the Cabaret in Brockton, Mr. Hayes began to drive aggressively. Witnesses stated that Mr. Hayes had hit something,” a prosecutor said.
Alves’ family says they are heartbroken over the tragic loss.
“When he hit him he should have stopped and saved him. Nothing can bring him back. This pain [is] never going to be the same. He could have saved him,” said Anilton Alves, the victim’s father, through a translation by Adenise Alves, the victim’s step-mother. “With the officer, he should have made an example. He should save a life not destroy a life. Because no words can bring him back. We’re in pain.”
Hanover Police Chief Timothy Kane said Hayes was immediately placed on administrative leave following the incident.
Hayes was held on $15,000 cash bail and ordered by a judge to not operate any motor vehicles. He is due back in court on March 31.
The incident is under investigation by Massachusetts State Police and Brockton Police.
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