(NECN: Scot Yount, Quincy, Mass.) - She's accused of crashing into a state police cruiser and three other cars in Randolph, Mass. while drunk and driving the wrong way.
Twenty-five-year-old Mary K. McLaughlin of Weymouth is allegedly involved in one of two crashes overnight involving state police cars.
The other crash, just 15 minutes after the Randolph accident, sent both a trooper and 30-year-old Peter Okarma of Reading to hospitals. Okarma is alleged to have been driving drunk when he barreled into a construction zone on the Mass Pike.
The trooper has been released from the hospital, but Okarma remains at Beth Israel.
Mass DOT Chief Richard Davey says the DOT is reminding drivers to obey the signs in work zones.
"We have a lot of work crews out, doing work overnight so we don't cause traffic during rush hours; we are asking our customers when they see those cones, that indicate there is a work zone up ahead, to slow down," said Davey.
McLaughlin is alleged to have hit the trooper who was outside of the cruiser attempting to deploy stop sticks to puncture McLaughlin's tires; that trooper was not injured. According to court documents, she refused a breathalyzer test. McLaughlin told officers she didn't remember going the wrong way on Route 24.
Davey says the state has been cracking down.
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"We have given out over 3,000 tickets to date," said Davey.
The judge set McLaughlin's bail at 1500 dollars and she was released, her driver's license revoked. She is due back in Quincy District Court on August 28 at 9 a.m.
