CENTERVILLE – At about 8:00PM last evening, an off-duty Barnstable Police Officer had the scare of his life when he arrived at a hit-and-run accident scene and found all of his young children had been inside a car which had just been struck.

The officer’s 10-year-old daughter had a head injury and was immediately taken to CCH with non-life-threatening injuries. His 7 and 12-year-old boys were also in the car, they didn’t need medical treatment, but were a bit shook up… The dad first, officer a close second, then bent down to embrace the youngest of his bunch (as seen in the above photo insert).

The driver of the Nissan Sentra which rammed into his children’s vehicle, fled the scene on foot.

A Barnstable Police K-9 Unit arrived and immediately hit the ground tracking.

Meanwhile, a patrolman at the scene began his investigation of the suspect vehicle. He learned that the vehicle was a rental and gathered information from a rental agreement he found inside of the car.

As you will see at the end of the video, information on the rental agreement led officers to an address on James Otis Road, just several blocks from the crash. It was there they located their suspect…

Matthew Cuccia, age 38, of Centerville was arrested and transported back to Barnstable Police Headquaters. Cuccia was charged with OUI, Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Personal Injury, Operating to Endanger, and Marked Lanes violations.

According to a source, the Police Officer’s injured daughter was treated at CCH and released within a couple of hours after the crash.

UPDATE – 3/23/2016 – 9:40AM:  According to Barnstable Police Lieutenant John Murphy, the officer’s 7, 10, and 12-year-old children were driving with their mother, the officer’s ex-wife, at the time of the crash.

HN NOTE:  Hit-and-run traffic accidents are always serious crimes regardless of the victim’s occupation  (This point comes from a high ranking Barnstable Police Officer, and it’s a very good point).  However, having said that, this week we’ve all heard about the tragic deaths of officers out their doing their duty to keep the rest of us safe.  This accident involving this patrolman’s children could have been much worse and thankfully it was not… in fact, after all the bad news involving the deaths of our local law enforcement officers, to the horrible news out of Brussels, I myself, and perhaps many others in the local media, are particularly relieved that this particular officer’s children appear, ultimately,  to be now safe and sound, with the suspect who allegedly struck their vehicle off the road and facing criminal charges in this situation.  I’m relieved whenever accident victims survive;  I’m also relieved whenever the police take alleged drunk drivers off the roadways;  but today, I personally am very relieved we are not hearing about yet another grave tragedy involving one of our local law enforcement officials.  I publish this sentiment to let our hard working officers know that most people care about their well being, along with the well being of their  families and loved ones.  HN feels strongly it’s important to say this during these times of grief for both cops and citizens who believe strongly in the cause of law and order. 

The following video highlights the scene of the accident at the intersection of Old Stage Road and Thoreau Drive. At the very end of the video, it shows officers leaving James Otis Road right after arresting their suspect.

[Press play… Select HD in the settings and enlarge player for best quality]

Business Card Directory

Add your business card click here