Trial Underway Over MA Trooper's Mass Pike Death

WORCESTER, MA — A man accused of killing a Massachusetts state trooper in a crash along the Mass Pike in 2016 went on trial in Worcester on Monday. David Njuguna is standing by his claim that he suffered a medical emergency in the moments before a crash that killed Trooper Thomas Clardy.

The accident happened in the afternoon in March 2016. Clardy was parked along I-90 in Charlton in his cruiser when Njuguna swerved across several lanes and hit the trooper's vehicle. Clardy's SUV hit a car parked in front of it, and then rolled down an embankment. He died later at UMASS Medical Center.

Prosecutors say Njuguna, 33, was high on marijuana and driving about 80 MPH before the crash. His attorney, Peter Ettenberg, told a judge on Monday that Njuguna suffered a seizure, according to reports. He has pleaded non guilty to charges of manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide while driving negligently, driving to endanger, driving an uninsured vehicle, and motor vehicle homicide by reckless or negligent driving.

Several witnesses said that they had seen Njuguna's Nissan Maxima speeding in the moments before the crash. Prosecutors also said that he had visited a Brookline medical marijuana store earlier in the day.

Clardy, a father of six, was a US Marine Corps veteran. He joined the State Police in April 2005, graduating as a member of the 77th Recruit Training Troop. He started at the Brookfield, Northampton, and Sturbridge Barracks, and then for the Troop C Community Action Team. He was assigned to the Charlton Barracks in November 2012.

Clardy was working a supplemental shift when the crash happened.