Suspect in fatal Somerset Christmas crash indicted on vehicular manslaughter

SOMERSET, Mass. (WLNE) — Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said that the suspect in the Somerset Christmas crash that left three people dead has been indicted.

41-year-old Adam Gauthier, of New York City, was charged with three counts of motor vehicle manslaughter while operating under the influence and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Gauthier, who was once a resident of Somerset, was arrested around 11 p.m. on Christmas night last year after a wrong way crash that resulted in the deaths of 73-year-old Floriano Arruda, 68-year-old Donna Arruda, and their 15-year-old grandson, Jacoby Arruda. The three lived in Seekonk.

Two other people in another vehicle were also injured in the crash.

Gauthier is currently being held at the Dartmouth House of Corrections. His case will be heard at the Fall River Superior Court.