One man died in a three-car crash on Thursday afternoon in Auburn, and a Taunton man is facing related charges, including motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, according to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.

DeJesus Amaro, 24, was arraigned in Worcester Central District Court on Friday. He was ordered held on $50,000 bail, a release from the district attorney’s office says.

In addition to the motor vehicle homicide charge, he’s facing charges of operating under the influence of drugs and causing serious injury, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury and death, leaving the scene of property damage, possession of an open container of alcohol in public, using a motor vehicle without authority, unlicensed operation, a marked lanes violation, and speeding.


What authorities say happened

The three-car crash happened around 1:45 p.m. near 475 Washington St. Officials say a Ford Explorer driven by Amaro struck a Toyota Tacoma and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

“[Amaro’s] vehicle was driving extremely fast, passing vehicles, lost control, swerved back into the westbound lane to avoid a crash, then struck the rear of a Toyota truck in the westbound lane, veered across the road into the eastbound lane, and struck the front of a Jeep Cherokee, head on,” according to the police statement of the facts filed with the court, MassLive reports.

A passenger in the Jeep, identified as Michael Robidoux, 54, of Auburn, was brought to Worcester’s UMass Memorial Medical Center and pronounced dead. The Jeep’s driver was also brought to the hospital and admitted, according to the district attorney’s office. The Tacoma’s driver was not injured.

Amaro took off from the scene and into the nearby woods, blood gushing from an elbow, police said in the statement. Police tracked him down with the help of a state police K-9 — he was hiding in a drainage pipe, according to MassLive, and allegedly smelled of marijuana and alcohol.

Amaro told officers that he’d had a couple shots of Hennessy and smoked two blunts, police said in the statement. His vehicle was reportedly stolen, according to MassLive.

Route 20 closed at Millbury Street and at School Street in both directions due to motor vehicle crash involving at least 2 vehicles. Serious injuries involved. ⁦@CEMLEC_News⁩ Crash Reconstruction and ⁦@MassStatePolice⁩ investigating/assisting pic.twitter.com/8rbRvseufr — Auburn Police (@AuburnMAPolice) June 6, 2019


The victim

Michael Robidoux owned Central Mass. Towing, according to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. He had a wife and four children.

Robidoux’s daughter-in-law, Brittany Girardi, called him “the most loud, obnoxious, charismatic man anybody would ever meet” in a GoFundMe campaign set up to help cover his funeral expenses — Robidoux died without a life insurance policy.

“He would light up a room instantly, mostly because he was too loud to ignore!” Girardi wrote. “Everybody who knew him knows that he had the most generous, caring, and giving heart.”

Tim Robidoux, Michael Robidoux’s brother, told NBC10 Boston he drove that stretch of road every day.

“You don’t expect that when you’re driving,” he told the news station. “You don’t expect someone to come into your lane and hit you head on.”