a day ago
Wrong-way driver in crash that killed officer from Exeter extradited for NH charges
The driver accused of driving the wrong way and killing a police officer from Exeter on Interstate 95 in Massachusetts early last Thanksgiving has been extradited to New Hampshire to face charges here.
Wrong-way driver in crash that killed officer from Exeter extradited for NH charges
KEOMA DUARTE
Keoma Duarte, a 40-year-old New Bedford, Mass., man, was moved to the Rockingham County Department of Correction on Tuesday. Duarte faces two felony counts of reckless conduct and one misdemeanor charge of disobeying an officer on Nov. 27, 2024, in Hampton, New Hampshire State Police said in a written news release Friday.
Police said Duarte was driving the wrong way toward Massachusetts on I-95 north when New Hampshire state troopers tried to pull him over. After crossing the border shortly after midnight, Massachusetts troopers pursued him, but didn't catch up with him until Duarte had crashed his Tesla head-on into a Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Sgt. Jeremy Cole, 49, of Exeter.
Cole, a 15-year member of the Public Safety & Police Department at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., was killed on his way home to his family after his work shift that holiday morning.
Duarte was charged with motor vehicle homicide, manslaughter and operating under the influence in Massachusetts.
Police are still investigating the incident.
