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ICE nabs drunk driving suspect who PLOWED into a state trooper's cruiser just minutes before he could walk free on $500 bail

Tuesday, June 2, 2026
3 min read
MDN Staff
ICE nabs drunk driving suspect who PLOWED into a state trooper's cruiser just minutes before he could walk free on $500 bail

Lucas Gustavo Brajak DeAlmeida Di Benedetto, 41, of Newburyport was scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. Tuesday arraignment in Peabody District Court — on charges of OUI, negligent operation, and a wrong-way citation — after the state released him on $500 bail Sunday. ICE was waiting at the courthouse.

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PEABODY — Massachusetts let him walk on $500 bail.
ICE didn't.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Lucas Gustavo Brajak DeAlmeida Di Benedetto, 41, of Newburyport, outside Peabody District Court on Tuesday morning — minutes before he was scheduled to be arraigned on charges that he drove drunk the wrong way down Route 1 at 2 a.m. Sunday and crashed into a Massachusetts State Police cruiser.
The trooper was not seriously injured.
The Essex District Attorney's office confirmed the courthouse detention in a statement to Boston.com: "Upon appearing at Peabody District Court, and prior to his scheduled arraignment, Mr. Di Benedetto was taken into ICE custody."

What state authorities did

After the 2 a.m. Sunday crash on Route 1, Massachusetts authorities charged Di Benedetto with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and issued him a citation for driving the wrong way on a state highway.

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They then released him on $500 bail pending Tuesday morning's arraignment.
In the meantime, ICE was watching.

What ICE did

Federal agents waited outside Peabody District Court for Tuesday's 8:30 a.m. arraignment. When Di Benedetto arrived for court, they detained him.
The surveillance footage circulating online shows Di Benedetto — pictured in a black baseball cap and dark shirt, circled in red in the featured image at the top of this article — being escorted away by what appears to be a plainclothes federal agent.
Surveillance video shows the alleged drunk wrong-way driver — circled in the featured image — being detained by what appears to be a plainclothes ICE agent outside Peabody District Court Tuesday morning.

The bigger picture

This case is a textbook example of the gap between state-level criminal processing in Massachusetts and federal immigration enforcement.
The state's response: $500 bail and a Tuesday court date.
ICE's response: detained at the courthouse, before he could walk again.
If the federal arrest had not happened, the most likely outcome of Tuesday's arraignment would have been another release on the same $500 bail pending trial — meaning the man accused of driving drunk the wrong way down Route 1 at 2 a.m. and crashing into a state trooper's cruiser would have been back on the street within the hour.
Mass Daily News will update this story as immigration proceedings progress.

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ICE nabs drunk driving suspect who PLOWED into a state trooper's cruiser just minutes before he could walk free on $500 bail - Mass Daily News