After a lengthy international pursuit, Gabriel Dias De Holanda, the suspect in a fatal 2022 car crash in Upton, Massachusetts, has been dragged back to the U.S. to face charges. Dias De Holanda, 19, had fled to Brazil shortly after the accident that claimed the life of 18-year-old Jacob Osanya, before making his way to the United Kingdom where he was eventually nabbed, announced the Worcester County District Attorney's Office.
Having dodged the authorities since the crash in August 2022, Dias De Holanda was finally apprehended in London this past December. According to Boston 25 News, the suspect was escorted back to American soil by the U.S. Marshals Service, following a court agreement to be extradited from the UK.
The slew of charges awaiting Dias De Holanda includes manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide by negligent and reckless operation, negligent and reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The Worcester County District Attorney's Office has informed that Dias De Holanda is expected to be arraigned on Monday.
On that ill-fated night on Aug. 6, when the 2019 Acura ILX Dias De Holanda was driving veered off the road and gruesomely smashed into a tree, trapping Osanya in the wreckage, according to NBC Boston. Osanya was later pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center, which also treated the other injured passengers including Dias De Holanda.
The crash investigation revealed that Dias De Holanda had left for Brazil, a country with no extradition treaty for its own citizens, but his run from justice was cut short when he traveled to the UK, as MassLive reported. A global collaboration among law enforcement agencies led to his extradition back to the States.
The case has seen extensive interagency cooperation, with local and state police, the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, and international bodies such as the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Department of State, all playing roles in the return of Dias De Holanda for the judicial process to take its course.
