Driver faces charges in fatal crash

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—Authorities have charged a Dartmouth man with motor vehicle homicide after an 86-year-old woman he allegedly injured in a crash last month died in hospital.

Police said on Friday that 27-year-old Pedro Furtado was previously charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, speeding and a marked lanes violation stemming from the crash that ultimately killed Hazel Giusti of New Bedford.

Authorities say Furtado was speeding on the Purchase Street ramp leading from Route 18 southbound when he tried to change lanes and struck a vehicle driven by Giusti, causing her to lose control of
the Subaru Legacy.

Furtado also struck a vehicle driven by 26-year-old Brie Ryan of Dartmouth. They were both unhurt in the Sept. 27 crash.

Emergency workers took Giusti to Rhode Island Hospital, where she died Wednesday.