State Police Trooper Tamar Bucci Dies After Crash Involving A Tanker Truck On I-93 In Stoneham

STONEHAM (CBS) -- A Massachusetts State Police trooper died after a crash on I-93 North in Stoneham early Thursday morning. A tanker truck hit a State Police cruiser driven by Trooper Tamar Bucci, 34, shortly after midnight.

At the time, Bucci was pulling to the side of the road to help a driver who stopped in the breakdown lane. She was in a marked cruiser with emergency blue lights flashing.

The tanker truck was carrying 10,000 gallons of gasoline.

Two Good Samaritans stopped to pull Bucci out of her cruiser. A Stoneham police officer driving by the scene also stopped to perform emergency first aid until first responders arrived.

The trooper was then rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital.

"Despite the heroic efforts of the citizens, the Stoneham officer, the Armstrong Ambulance crew, and the emergency staff at MGH, Trooper Bucci was pronounced deceased at the hospital," Colonel Christopher Mason said at a media briefing Friday morning. "The department is devastated by her loss."

Sources tell WBZ-TV that investigators have been looking at the dash video from the cruiser to piece together the last moments before the crash.

The I-Team has learned that there are three cameras in the cruiser: one in the front, one in the back, and a third facing the back seat. The cameras are turned on when the cruiser's light are activated but the video starts recording 60 before that.

Bucci was a Woburn resident and had been with the Massachusetts State Police for two years. She was a graduate of Andover High School and Middlesex Community College.

State Police said the truck driver, a Methuen man, was not hurt. He is cooperating and has been interviewed by police. No charges have been filed, but according to I-Team sources, the driver's license has been suspended.

The driver of the disabled car was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and released. She told WBZ-TV she had stopped in the breakdown to use her GPS.

The crash shut down part of I-93 North right before Exit 27. All travel lanes didn't reopen until about 8 a.m.