An 18-year-old from Watertown lost his life on a Belmont road on Tuesday morning following a failed traffic stop and a subsequent crash with an SUV, as reported by authorities. According to NBC Boston, the young man on the moped was trying to evade a police stop initiated due to driving the wrong way on Trapelo Road before 9 a.m. This attempt led to a collision on Stults Road, just blocks away from where police first sighted the erratic moped driver.
Details given by Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Belmont Interim Police Chief Mark Hurley indicate that after driving irrationally on Trapelo Road, the moped turned left onto Stults Road, crashing into a Honda CR-V traveling along Fairview Avenue; neither Ryan nor Hurley confirmed whether a police chase was underway at the time of the accident. As per the account given by Boston.com, the unidentified teen was urgently taken to the hospital, where he was declared deceased. The SUV's driver was also hospitalized, but with minor injuries.
The investigation into this tragic occurrence is being handled by the DA's office, Belmont police, and Massachusetts State Police; however, no additional information has been released concerning why the young man opted to escape the traffic stop. A nearby resident, Chip Gaysunas, told NBC Boston that after the crash, the moped appeared "totally demolished," adding that "It looked like it was in 50 pieces, the bike."
