# Elderly driver who hit officer has died



## DANIPD (Jun 30, 2003)

Elderly driver who hit officer has died 







 *By Julie Manganis *
_Staff writer _

TOPSFIELD - An elderly driver who struck and seriously injured a Topsfield police officer on Route 1 last year died Wednesday, the day before he was set to appear in court to resolve charges stemming from the crash.

Carlton Roffey, who would have turned 90 today, had agreed to sign a pledge that he would never seek reinstatement of his driver's license. In exchange, the criminal charges against him - leaving the scene of an accident and failing to stay within marked lanes - would be filed without a finding.

But on Wednesday evening, his attorney, Pat Morgan, learned that Roffey had died.

The accident occurred on the morning of March 28, 2005, while Patrolman Shawn Frost was directing traffic at a construction site on Route 1. Roffey, 88 at the time, drove through about 200 feet of orange traffic cones and crashed into the officer, leaving Frost with potentially career-ending injuries that required multiple surgeries. Frost has still not returned to work, though he has expressed optimism that he may someday be back on duty.

Roffey continued driving, dragging several orange traffic cones underneath his 1986 Oldsmobile Ciera, until another motorist who had witnessed the crash forced him off the road near Route 97, about a mile away.

At the time, police suspected that Roffey, who was living in a Danvers assisted-living facility, was distracted while trying to fill his pipe with tobacco, and prosecutors said they could prove Roffey knew he should not have been driving at all that morning.

Roffey's attorney, however, said he had obtained medical evidence that Roffey actually suffered a stroke while driving and had no idea what had happened when he hit the officer.

Morgan also argued that Roffey, whose health quickly declined after the crash, was not competent to stand trial. Before a hearing on that issue, prosecutor Steve Patten and Morgan came to an agreement that would have disposed of the case by filing it without a finding, on the condition that Roffey pledge not to seek reinstatement of his driver's license. Roffey's license had been suspended by the Registry of Motor Vehicles after the crash.

Had the case gone to trial, it was unlikely that Roffey would have faced anything more serious than unsupervised probation, given his advanced age and infirmity.

Morgan said yesterday that Roffey had been living in a North Andover nursing home in recent months and had been in poor health. He did not know the cause of death.

As a result of Roffey's death, the criminal charges will be dismissed.

Roffey's death does not end the civil litigation Frost or his insurance company are pursuing. In civil lawsuits, a plaintiff can recover damages from a defendant's estate, which could include any assets left by Roffey or insurance coverage he had while he was alive


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## firefighter39 (Apr 10, 2006)

I can not count how many MVA's I hvae been too where elderly drivers shuld not have been driving. The laws defniately need to be changed in this area. I have filed multiple statements to back up immediate threat reports, but by the time we see this person it is too late. There needs to be mandatory (re)testing of the elderly.

Even with the civil suit no ammount of money can adequetly compensate the Officer involved


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## dcs2244 (Jan 29, 2004)

Never going to happen, FF39: the boomers have entered the realm of retirement and have more votes than the other lemmings...that is, they actually vote...the lemming does not. So get used to the dead, murdered by brain-dead-murtha types who do not know what planet they are on...let alone which lane!


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## Andy0921 (Jan 12, 2006)

Yeah old people are always causing MVA's, once they hit 65 the should have to be retested.


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