Judge orders driver in Northfield crash held without bail
Greenfield District Court Judge William Mazanec ordered a Rhode Island man facing multiple criminal charges in connection with a crash that injured nine people held without bail, ruling that he poses a danger to others.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Jeremy Bucci, chief trial counsel for the DA’s office, requested that Ryan O’Farrell be held without right to bail on a 58A dangerousness ruling, noting that he had been driving without a license after his license had been suspended in Connecticut when he veered into the oncoming lane on Route 10 in Northfield Sunday. His vehicle crashed into five motorcycles, injuring nine people who were either operating or passengers on the motorcycles. Eight people were hospitalized with serious injuries, with three Life Flight helicopters taking the most seriously injured to trauma hospitals.
In Greenfield District Court Tuesday, O’Farrell, represented by defense attorney Alan Rubin of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, pleaded not guilty to the following charges: 9 counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; 7 counts of operating under the influence of drugs causing serious bodily injury; operating under the influence of drugs; 2 counts of child endangerment; negligent operation of a motor vehicle; unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle; operating an unregistered motor vehicle.
“He should not have been driving,” ADA Bucci said. “It is the Commonwealth’s position that nothing short of incarcerating him would stop him from driving.” Bucci stated in court that one of the two children in the car with O’Farrell warned him he was driving erratically before the crash.
The crash occurred around 1 p.m. Sunday in the vicinity of 272 Main St., Northfield, when O’Farrell, operating an SUV pulling a trailer carrying a motorcycle heading south, crossed over a solid yellow double center lane. The vehicle struck five motorcycles heading north that were part of a group of nine from a Connecticut motorcycle club.
Police arrested O’Farrell, 32, of Westerly, R.I. at the scene. Two children, ages 11 and 12, who were in his vehicle, were taken to the hospital, though they appeared to be uninjured.
Responding to the scene were EMS and firefighters from Turners Falls and Northfield; police from the Northfield, Gill and Phillipston departments; State Police detectives assigned to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office; troopers with the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section (CARS) and State Police Crime Scene Services Section (CSSS). The crash remains under investigation.
O’Farrell’s case was continued for a pretrial conference to June 29. Should conditions change allowing O’Farrell to be released on bail, the judge set bail at $100,000 cash or $500,000 surety.
Criminal charges are based on probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.