Rachael Rollins Announces Criminal Investigation Of MBTA Over Green Line Crash

BOSTON (CBS) – The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office is launching a criminal investigation into the MBTA for last summer's Green Line crash. Trolley operator Owen Turner was charged with negligence for the crash that injured 27 people.

In a statement Thursday, outgoing DA Rachael Rollins said Turner's supervisors knew he had a history of speeding but failed to do anything about it.

"There is perhaps no single state agency that impacts the daily lives of the millions of people who live and work in the greater Boston area more than the T," said DA Rollins. "Therefore, it is imperative that if we see a continued lack of oversight or negligence at the MBTA that it is exposed and corrected."

The crash happened on July 30, 2021 on the B Branch along Commonwealth Avenue. Investigators said Turner put the trolley into the full-power position and was going three times the speed limit when his train crashed into another trolley.

Transit Police said Turner initially told officers he had no memory of the crash. The next day, he told police he may have fallen asleep.

Rollins said the crash was the start of a "terrifying two-month period" that included a fatal fall from a staircase at JFK Station and an escalator malfunction at Back Bay Station that injured nine people.

"This list of failures and tragedies appropriately makes the T-riding public and all of us question the value the MBTA is placing on safety," Rollins said.

Rollins will be sworn in as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts on Monday.