A wrong-way driver traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of Interstate 195 in Mattapoisett struck a Mattapoisett police cruiser Friday, September 4, after an officer moved to intercept the vehicle and prevent a possible head-on collision with oncoming traffic. Officer Jacob Fluegel had responded to the highway to locate the vehicle when he saw it barreling directly toward his position and attempted to stop it safely.
According to Newport Dispatch, Massachusetts State Police had broadcast a report of a wrong-way operator on I-195 in Mattapoisett before Fluegel located the vehicle and moved to stop it. The driver ultimately struck the Mattapoisett police cruiser, and the vehicle's operator was transported from the scene by Mattapoisett police EMS. State troopers took over the investigation once medical transport was complete, according to the outlet's report.
Fluegel joined the Mattapoisett Police Department in early 2025 after graduating from Old Rochester Regional High School in 2016 and studying at UMass Dartmouth, according to the Fall River Reporter. He was raised in Mattapoisett, where his late father, Paul Fluegel, was a well-known South Coast law enforcement figure who served as a Wareham Police officer for nearly 30 years, the outlet reports.
Investigation Still Open on Driver's Identity and Charges
The driver's identity and any potential criminal charges remain under active investigation, per the same Fall River Reporter account, with Massachusetts State Police now handling that side of the case. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 24, operating a vehicle recklessly or negligently so as to endanger public safety carries penalties of up to two years in prison, fines up to $200, and a minimum 60-day license suspension, and negligent operation charges are frequently filed alongside OUI charges in highway wrong-way cases, according to Mass.gov.
The stretch of I-195 running through Mattapoisett has seen wrong-way incidents before. In August 2017, an 87-year-old wrong-way driver in a Toyota Camry forced an oncoming motorist to swerve into the median and strike a tree, an incident that began in Mattapoisett before continuing westbound into Fairhaven, according to New Bedford Guide.
A Statewide Pattern of Danger for Intercepting Officers
Positioning a marked cruiser in the path of a wrong-way vehicle is a tactic used across Massachusetts, but it carries real risk for the officers involved. In May 2026, State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor was killed on Route 1 in Lynnfield when his cruiser collided head-on with a wrong-way driver he was trying to intercept, a line-of-duty death that accelerated the state's rollout of automated wrong-way alert technology, according to Boston 25 News. Two months later, in July 2026, a wrong-way driver on Interstate 91 in Chicopee struck a State Police cruiser and a second passenger car, injuring a trooper, a police K-9 and another motorist before the driver was arrested for OUI, as reported by The Boston Globe.
Governor Maura Healey and transportation officials announced a $75 million statewide initiative in June 2026 to retrofit traffic signals and cameras with wrong-way detection technology at roughly 430 high-risk highway locations, combining thermal cameras, illuminated warning signs and real-time state police alerts. Data from MassDOT's 16-ramp pilot detection program showed automated systems logged 294 wrong-way drivers on Massachusetts highways between 2022 and May 2026, including 21 incidents in 2022, 96 in 2023, 88 in 2024, 66 in 2025 and 23 through early May 2026.
Police cited more than 500 drivers per year for wrong-way driving in Massachusetts in both 2024 and 2025, and state crash records show 80 people died in wrong-way highway collisions statewide over the past decade. State officials estimate wrong-way highway collisions are at least 12 times deadlier than standard traffic crashes.
Local EMS Response and Officer's Family Legacy
Mattapoisett Police operate an integrated emergency medical service staffed by cross-trained police officers and paramedics, which is why the department itself provided the medical response and transport following Friday's crash rather than an outside ambulance service. That dual role let officers stabilize and move the wrong-way driver from the I-195 scene before state troopers formally took the investigation forward.
Fluegel's actions drew local praise for potentially preventing a multi-vehicle tragedy on the highway, though officials have not detailed the wrong-way driver's condition beyond confirming the transport. As is common in these cases statewide, the driver's identity, medical status and any charges remain unresolved pending the State Police investigation.
