According to a report by The Providence Journal, a police officer in Rhode Island was killed while on a DUI patrol when he was struck by an alleged drunk driver.
Officer Michael Troia was parked in his police cruiser on the lookout for DUI suspects when a man who was later charged with DUI slammed into the cruiser. Troia was on patrol specifically for the purpose of nabbing the very type of suspect who would come right to him.
He was taken to the hospital after the accident, where he was treated and released. He will not be at work for a few days after the incident, to fully recover before returning to duty, according to the Providence Police Department.
Officer Troia was working overtime as a part of the Blue Riptide program, in which grant money from the state’s Department of Transportation goes towards policing potential DUI offenders. Troia’s overtime pay was coming from this specific fund.
Officer Troia had pulled over another driver for a moving violation that wasn’t associated with driving under the influence, and was writing out the ticket in his own vehicle when he was struck. He called for help, which arrived in the form of a fellow officer, who spoke to the driver of the Toyota Corolla that had collided with the police cruiser.
Michael O. Mageau was driving the car. According to police, there was a strong smell of alcohol emanating from Mageau. When asked how the accident happened, the driver said that the police cruiser must have pulled out in front of him.
When informed that the cruiser had been parked with its overhead lights on, the driver claimed that “Well, it must’ve stopped suddenly then,” according to the police report.
When asked if he had been drinking, Mageau replied, “Of course I have.”
Mageau could not perform field-sobriety tests when requested from the police, and police let him stop so that he wouldn’t hurt himself. Mageau was charged with drunk driving, refusing a breath test and failure to maintain control of his vehicle.
