Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Scott Quigley, 41, of Woburn, has been indicted on felony motor vehicle homicide charges in connection with a deadly December 2023 crash that killed a disabled passenger in a medical transport van, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office. The grand jury indictment comes more than two years after the collision that occurred on Lexington Street in Woburn around 5 p.m. on December 12, 2023.
Prosecutors allege that Quigley was driving negligently and under the influence when his unmarked State Police vehicle crossed the centerline on Lexington Street and collided head-on with an oncoming medical transport van. The crash killed Angelo Schettino, 37, a Saugus man with developmental challenges who used a wheelchair and was being transported back to his Lynn group home where he lived, according to officials. Body camera video released shows the police response to the cruiser crash scene, with Quigley identified as the driver of the state police vehicle.
Court documents reveal that Quigley’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was 0.11, which exceeds Massachusetts’ legal limit of 0.08. This information came to light during jury selection for an unrelated murder retrial in Lowell, where prosecutors revealed that another state employee had heard secondhand from a state trooper about Quigley’s elevated BAC level. The revelation emerged because Quigley, who was assigned to the Middlesex County DA’s office investigations unit, may have been called to testify in the murder trial of three brothers.
Schettino was hospitalized following the collision and died a month later from injuries sustained in the crash, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The van driver was also injured in the collision but survived. Quigley was placed on administrative leave for eight months following the crash, according to the district attorney’s office.
The case has sparked allegations of a cover-up, with defense attorneys in the unrelated murder case arguing that charges against their clients should be thrown out due to the DA’s office allegedly concealing Quigley’s drunk driving for years. “Until now, the Commonwealth and the State Police had this information and hid it. This is a cover up,” defense attorneys argued in court. “We don’t know who was involved, but this is absolutely a cover up that’s proven.” The lawyers claimed that the DA’s office covered up the sergeant’s alleged drunk driving, which they say undermines his credibility as a potential witness in other cases.
Additional complications have emerged regarding evidence handling in the case. About a month after a court order on January 30 instructed various agencies to disclose materials about the crash, defense attorneys alleged that Massachusetts State Police withheld cruiser camera footage associated with then-Sergeant Jennifer Penton and Sergeant Martin Cooke. A footnote in court documents indicates this video was eventually produced during litigation tied to a civil wrongful death case related to the crash. State police attorneys argued that because the recordings were produced shortly after the omission was discovered, attempts to compel the footage should be denied as moot.
Location & Road Context
The fatal collision occurred on Lexington Street in Woburn, a busy thoroughfare that connects residential areas with commercial districts in the suburban Massachusetts community. Lexington Street serves as a key route for medical transport services traveling between healthcare facilities and group homes in the region. The crash happened during evening rush hour traffic around 5 p.m., when visibility and road conditions can be challenging for drivers. The area where Quigley’s vehicle crossed the centerline appears to be on a hill, based on descriptions from the scene, which can create additional hazards for impaired drivers who may have difficulty maintaining proper lane positioning.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The criminal matter was referred to Suffolk County prosecutors in January 2026 specifically because Quigley worked as a detective assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, creating a potential conflict of interest. Quigley will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date to face the felony motor vehicle homicide charge. Massachusetts State Police have initiated multiple concurrent investigations into the incident, including an independent review, an internal affairs investigation, and a criminal investigation being led by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office as a third-party agency.
The case has complicated other legal proceedings, particularly the murder retrial in Lowell where Quigley was expected to serve as a witness. Defense attorneys in that case have seized on the drunk driving allegations to challenge the integrity of the prosecution’s case, arguing that the DA’s office’s handling of the Quigley matter calls into question their credibility in other prosecutions. The timing of the indictment, coming more than two years after the crash, has raised questions about why the charges took so long to file and whether there were attempts to suppress information about the incident.
Broader Impact
This case highlights the complex legal and ethical issues that arise when law enforcement officers assigned to prosecutor’s offices face serious criminal charges. Quigley’s role in the Middlesex County DA’s investigations unit meant he was involved in building cases against other defendants, and his alleged drunk driving incident has now become grounds for defense attorneys to challenge those prosecutions. The allegations of evidence withholding and cover-up attempts could have far-reaching consequences for other cases in which Quigley participated, potentially leading to appeals or dismissals of charges in unrelated criminal matters where his testimony or investigative work was a factor.