A New Bedford man who was allegedly drunk when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 95, starting in New Hampshire, and crashed head-on into the vehicle of an Endicott College police sergeant in Massachusetts in November was extradited to New Hampshire earlier this week, officials said.
Keoma Duarte was taken into the custody of New Hampshire State Police on June 3, when troopers picked him up from Bristol County jail and took him to the Rockingham House of Corrections in New Hampshire, State Police said in a statement.
State Police had obtained an arrest warrant on Dec. 6 charging Duarte with two felony counts of reckless conduct and a misdemeanor charge of disobeying an officer, the statement said. He was arraigned in Hampton District Court in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
The Endicott police sergeant, Jeremy Cole, 49, a father of four from Exeter, N.H., was killed Nov. 27 while driving home from an evening shift.
Duarte was previously arraigned on charges in Essex Superior Court in March, after a grand jury jury indicted him on two counts of manslaughter while operating under the influence.
New Hampshire authorities say troopers saw Duarte traveling in a Tesla heading south on the interstate’s northbound lanes just before midnight. They notified Massachusetts State Police, who spotted Duarte as he crossed into Massachusetts, the statement said.
Duarte continued south and collided with Cole’s 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer in Newbury, authorities said.
Cole was pronounced dead at the scene. Duarte suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
At the hospital, officials found Duarte’s blood alcohol level showed a reading of .16, double the legal limit, according to Massachusetts prosecutors.
Duarte allegedly drove the wrong way on the highway for about 14 miles before the crash, officials said.
New Hampshire State Police said Duarte was initially heading north on I-95 in Hampton and pulled into the parking lot of a New Hampshire state liquor store on the northbound side of the highway.
Security video of the lot allegedly showed Duarte driving through before departing through the entrance at about 11:45 p.m.
It was not immediately clear Friday if Duarte was being represented by an attorney in the New Hampshire case. Messages were left with his Massachusetts attorney seeking comment.
