March 18, 2010 – Wayland, Mass. – A Hudson man died after his vehicle struck a tree during a single-car accident early Wednesday morning in Wayland, Mass.
The MetroWest Daily News reports that Craig Heinonen, 42, hit a tree with his car on Cochituate Road just after police had attempted to pull him over at about 2:24 a.m.
Authorities said that instead of pulling to the side of the road for the traffic stop, Heinonen sped up and evidently lost control of the vehicle and eventually hit the tree.
Craig Heinonen was transported to Natick’s MetroWest Medical Center for the treatment of life-threatening injuries. He died shortly after being admitted for medical treatment.
Police have not released information about how fast Heinonen was driving, why he was being pulled over, or how far he drove after being signaled to pull over by police. No information has been released about whether the police pursued Heinonen for any length of time before the crash.
The MetroWest Daily News reports that Heinonen was arrested in Sudbury on Oct. 8 for driving under the influence of liquor, but the court case status has not been released. The state police accident reconstruction team and Wayland police are investigating the cause of the fatal single-car accident.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2008 Massachusetts Crash Statistics, there were 363 fatalities as a result of car accidents in Massachusetts.
