Legal News

Texting trolley driver admits guilt in Mass. crash

By (Daily Bar news)

A subway driver who authorities say was texting his girlfriend just before his trolley slammed into the back of another one near an underground station, injuring more than 60 people, pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to probation.

Aiden Quinn appeared in Suffolk Superior Court to plead guilty to gross negligence by a person in control of a common carrier. Judge Carol Ball sentenced him to two years probation and 100 hours of community service.

Quinn admitted typing a text message to his girlfriend just before the May 2009 rush-hour crash at the Government Center subway stop, prosecutors said. He ran through yellow and red warning lights and into the two-car train ahead of his. He was later fired.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Treseler asked Ball to sentence Quinn to six months in jail followed by probation, pointing to the injuries and cost of the accident.

Treseler said approximately 65 riders on the two trains sought medical care for injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to broken bones.

Full post as published by Daily Bar News on December 30, 2010 (boomark / email).