LYNNFIELD — Massachusetts State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor was killed on Route 1 by a wrong-way driver who had swallowed 10 drinks before getting behind the wheel, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office — and whose blood alcohol concentration came back at more than twice the legal limit.
Trainor, 30, died in the early morning of May 6 after 50-year-old Hernan Marrero of Roslindale entered a jug handle on Route 1 and drove 1.8 miles southbound in the northbound lanes. Marrero clipped a dump truck at 2:02 a.m. and then struck Trainor's cruiser head-on at roughly 60 mph. Both men were killed. Marrero's BAC tested at .192, more than double the .08 legal limit.
The scene of the fatal wrong-way crash on Route 1 in Lynnfield. Photo: YouTube.
Four hours of drinking, then a wrong-way ride
The district attorney's report says Marrero began the evening at a restaurant in Waltham, where he was given one complimentary drink after hours. He then drove to Tribu Mexican Kitchen and Bar in Saugus, where investigators say he was served nine more alcoholic drinks between 9:20 p.m. and 12:53 a.m. — roughly an hour after Massachusetts law requires bars to stop pouring.
Hernan Marrero, 50, of Roslindale — the wrong-way driver whose 10 drinks and .192 BAC killed Trooper Trainor on Route 1. Photo: Facebook.
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By the time Marrero got back on the road, he was legally too drunk to drive twice over. He entered Route 1 the wrong way and never corrected.
An aerial view of the wreckage on Route 1. Photo: CBS Boston.
A trooper who took the hit
District Attorney Paul Tucker said Trainor's actions almost certainly saved other drivers. His "willingness to put his own life at risk to serve and protect the citizens of the Commonwealth likely prevented an even greater tragedy," Tucker said in the report.
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Trainor had been on the road specifically because of the wrong-way driver report. When Marrero came around the curve at highway speed, Trainor's cruiser was in his path.
The Saugus bar walks away from criminal charges
Tribu Mexican Kitchen and Bar in Saugus — where the DA's report says Marrero was served nine drinks before the fatal crash.
The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission has cited Tribu Mexican Kitchen and Bar for serving alcohol after hours and for giving away free drinks. A hearing on those violations is scheduled for July 28.
The district attorney's office concluded that criminal charges against the restaurant itself were "not sustainable." That leaves a licensing hearing as the only accountability facing the Saugus establishment that poured nine drinks into a man who then killed a state trooper on Route 1.
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