Police Make 'Urgent Appeal' After 2 Worcester Pedestrians Die

WORCESTER, MA — After three traffic deaths on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Worcester area, law enforcement officials made an "urgent appeal" to drivers and pedestrians to be more careful on local roads this season. Two pedestrians were hit and killed in Worcester within hours of each other, and a third person died in a car crash in Leicester.

The first death happened along Park Avenue just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. And just after midnight, Devalter Marini Rocha. 54, of Framingham, was killed while crossing near Chandler and May streets.

The Park Avenue collision happened just before 5 p.m. along at the southwest end of Elm Park near Elm Street. The 66-year-old victim was crossing the street when he was hit by the driver's sedan. Police said the driver did not see the man. The victim was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The second collision happened at around 12:15 a.m. near Chandler and May streets adjacent to Worcester State University. Rocha was crossing the street when Ian McGrath, 23, of Worcester, slammed into him, Worcester police said.

McGrath was heading northbound on Chandler when he hit a parked car, drove up onto the sidewalk, reentered Chandler street, and then hit Rocha, who was walking in the southbound lane. The driver kept going and hit another parked car, police said. He was treated for minor injuries.

McGrath is now facing charges of vehicular homicide by negligent operation, vehicular homicide by reckless operation, failure to stay in a lane, speeding, failing to wear a seat belt, failing to slow down for a pedestrian, operating negligently, and driving on sidewalks.

Worcester Police Chief Steven Sargent said at a press conference Wednesday that pedestrian collisions tend to spike in the fall, and usually occur between the hours of 2 and 9 p.m. There were 288 pedestrian-involved collision in 2018 alone, he said.

"We want to remind both motorists and pedestrians to pay extra attention to the roadway," he said, adding that Worcester police would boost traffic enforcement this holiday season.

At least two other pedestrians have died on Worcester streets before this week. On Sept. 27, a pedestrian was hit and killed along Salisbury Street. On Sept. 4, a 61-year-old man died after he was hit crossing Lincoln Street. A man was hit while crossing Chandler Street in July, but he survived.