State police said one of its
own off-duty troopers was likely drunk and under the influence of drugs when he
crashed into a marked cruiser on Route 1 south in Revere early this morning,
injuring his brother in blue and the Chelsea man a fellow trooper was in the
process of writing a ticket for.
Trooper Shawn D’Amato, 43 — who
received the department’s Medal of Valor award in 2002 for apprehending a drug
suspect armed with a stun gun — was arrested at the scene and taken to
Massachusetts General Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries state police
said he suffered in the chain-reaction crash shortly after 12:30 a.m.
D’Amato could be arraigned in Chelsea
District Court as early as this afternoon on charges of drunken driving,
operating under the influence of drugs, negligent operation of a motor vehicle
and failure to change lines for an emergency vehicle provided “his medical
condition allows,” police said.
D’Amato was at the wheel of a
2013 Toyota Corolla when he struck Trooper John Phonesavanh’s 2006 Ford Crown
Victoria in the breakdown lane of Route 1 just south of Route 16, police said.
Police said the Crown Vic’s
lights were activated and Phonesavanh was seated issuing a citation to a
29-year-old Chelsea man, whose 2002 Honda Accord he’d pulled over for motor
vehicle violations.
Phonesavanh, who is assigned to
the Revere Barracks, called in the crash himself, police said.
D’Amato was released of duty
and his service weapon this morning. He will be subject to an internal duty
status hearing later this week. D’Amato has been with state police since 1994
and is assigned to Troop F at Logan International Airport.
In addition to the Medal of
Valor, D’Amato was bestowed a life-saving award by state police in 2006 for
performing CPR on a woman in respiratory distress at a Logan parking garage.
