Infant Unhurt in Crash Police Say Was Caused by Drugged Driver

A South Yarmouth man faces eight charges, including drugged driving and child endangerment, after crashing early Wednesday morning in Hingham with a potentially unsecured infant in the car.

The two-month-old child was unharmed, but responding officers could not determine where the infant was in the vehicle at the time of the accident or if it was properly secured, according to a statement by the Hingham Police Department. The child's parents, the driver and passenger, sustained minor injuries.


"The infant was in an infant carrier but the Officers found no base for the carrier that would allow the infant to be secured with a seat belt. Additionally, the rear seat had items stacked on it so that there was no place where the infant could have been secured," police said.

"The driver and passenger both gave contradictory statements about exactly where in the car the infant had been at the time of the crash."

Police said that Justin Grant Kennaway, 34, was driving under the influence of injected Suboxone when he drove off the road and struck a large traffic control electrical box at the intersection of Whiting Street and Cushing Street. He was driving south.

The impact of the crash, at approximately 4 a.m. Wednesday, pushed the box backward and disabled the traffic lights. The vehicle was towed from the scene.

All three occupants were brought by ambulance to South Shore Hospital. They were treated and released, and Kennaway was brought to the police station to be interviewed by Officer Justin Burns, one of the departments four Drug Recognition Experts.

Half of an Adderall pill was found in the driver's side door and an uncapped used hypodermic syringe was under the seat, police said. More unused syringes were found in Kennaway's pockets.

Kennaway formerly held a Rhode Island driver's license but does not have one in Massachusetts. 

He was charged with Operating Under the Influence of Drugs, Child Endangerment While OUI, Reckless Operation, Unlicensed Operation of a Vehicle, Reckless Endangerment of a Child, Child Under 8 without Car Seat, Marked Lanes Violation, Possession Class B Substance (Adderall).

Kennaway was arraigned Sept. 4 at Hingham District Court. Judge Francis Marini revoked his bail on an open case and set bail at $1,000 on the new charges, according to the police statement.

Police filed report of child abuse with the Department of Children and Families on behalf of the infant as required by Massachusetts General Law. Also, a request for Kennaway’s right to operate be suspended as an Immediate Threat was filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.