A 44-year-old Framingham man is facing multiple charges after police say he struck and killed a 62-year-old pedestrian on Hollis Street, then fled the scene on foot before returning to the area that same night. Philip Bligh, also of Framingham, died after being taken to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Ronei DeOliveira was arraigned in Framingham District Court on Tuesday.
According to Daily Voice, the crash happened around 10:30 p.m. on Hollis Street, and witnesses reported seeing the crash and watching the driver leave. Police say DeOliveira later that night returned to the area, where officers noted he smelled of alcohol when they spoke with him. He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, negligent driving, and leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death.
A judge set DeOliveira's bail at $250,000, according to police, and imposed several conditions on his release: a ban on drinking alcohol, GPS monitoring, and a requirement that he surrender his passport.
A Second Fatal Hit-And-Run in Two Weeks
Bligh's death marks the second fatal pedestrian hit-and-run in Framingham within a 15-day span, following an August 23 crash on Irving Street that killed 39-year-old Ronan Nunes De Oliveira, as reported by CBS News. Hoodline previously covered that earlier crash, which involved a gray Volkswagen GTI. The back-to-back fatalities have intensified concern about pedestrian safety across the city.
Citywide crash records show Framingham logged 1,203 total traffic crashes in 2025, including 171 hit-and-run collisions — accounting for 14.2% of all crashes — while total traffic fatalities in the city doubled from three in 2024 to six in 2025. Statewide, 76 pedestrians were killed in Massachusetts in 2025, more than 21% of the state's 354 total traffic deaths.
Older Pedestrians Face Outsized Risk
WalkMassachusetts also found that 43.4% of pedestrians killed in Massachusetts traffic crashes during 2025 were adults aged 65 or older, a disproportionate share given that group makes up just 18.7% of the state's population. Bligh, at 62, falls just below that threshold but within the demographic range advocates flag as especially vulnerable. He belonged to a long-time regional family; his late father, Raymond Bligh, was a U.S. Navy veteran and Boston investment executive who raised five children in the MetroWest area, according to George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Homes.
The Framingham fatality surge stands in contrast to broader trends. Preliminary 2025 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures published in April showed Massachusetts traffic fatalities fell 3% from 363 in 2024 to 352 in 2025, mirroring a 6.7% national drop, per Agency Checklists.
Investigators Working Without a Key Tool
Framingham police are also investigating without a resource they had access to as recently as this summer. The city deactivated its municipal automated license plate reader cameras on June 30 after allowing its contract with surveillance firm Flock Safety to lapse amid public privacy concerns, a shift Hoodline detailed in earlier coverage of the camera contract's end. That gap removes a tool police elsewhere have used to help identify vehicles in hit-and-run cases.
Potential Legal Exposure
Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90, Section 24, leaving the scene of an accident after causing a death carries a penalty of 2.5 to 10 years in state prison, or 1 to 2.5 years in a house of correction, along with fines up to $5,000 and a minimum three-year license revocation, according to Urbelis Law. Separately, felony motor vehicle homicide involving operating under the influence carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in state prison that cannot be suspended under Section 24G, and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court precedent bars a continuance without a finding for that charge, per MW Peterson Law. DeOliveira has been charged with DUI, negligent driving, and leaving the scene.
