NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to five years in jail in connection with the 2016 death of a former firefighter who was struck by a pickup truck as he waited for a bus.
Peter Sheremeta, 23, of Belchertown, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to drunken driving, negligent operation and other charges stemming from the death of William Wanczyk, 55, of Northampton at a downtown Amherst bus stop, The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported.
Sheremeta had faced a manslaughter charge, but prosecutors did not pursue it because they recognized it would be hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sheremeta was driving the truck at the time of Wanczyk’s death, First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said.
Another man was in the truck on the night of the victim’s death and could have been driving, according to Sheremeta’s attorney, Bonnie Allen.
It is known that Sheremeta took the truck from his employer without permission, was drunk, and was driving at some point, Gagne said.
After Wanczyk was struck, the truck was found abandoned a short distance away.
Wanczyk had been a Northampton firefighter from 1986 to 1989 before being injured on the job.
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