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Massachusetts State Police Colonel John E. Mawn Jr. released the below statement regarding Trooper Matthew McRae, who was seriously injured by a suspected drunk driver while vacationing in Utah last week.
At approximately 1 AM on the morning of Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Matthew McRae, while on vacation in Utah, was a passenger in a ride-share vehicle that was struck by a suspected drunk driver in Salt Lake City. Trooper McRae suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Utah Hospital. The other driver was arrested on the Utah state offense of “suspicion of DUI.”
Trooper McRae’s family is with him at the hospital, as is a member of the Executive Board of the State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM). SPAM is spearheading efforts, along with our Employee Assistance Unit, to support Trooper McRae and his family.
The sad irony of this tragic situation is not lost one anyone who knows Trooper McRae. A graduate of the 85th Recruit Training Troop currently assigned to the State Police-Belchertown Barracks, as well as a former local police officer, he has dedicated his life to protecting others and making the Commonwealth’s roads safer.
It is never more apparent that we in the MSP are an extended family than it is in a time of crisis. I am grateful beyond words to SPAM and SPAM President Pat McNamara for the tireless assistance they have provided to Trooper McRae and his family, both on the ground in Utah and back here in Massachusetts. I am, as ever, grateful also to our Employee Assistance Unit, which provides incredible support to Department members and their loved ones in times like these. Finally, I am deeply thankful to the Salt Lake City Police Department, the Utah Highway Patrol, the local firefighters and paramedics, and hospital staff for their response and aid to our Trooper.
As first responders, we are too well-versed in the fragility of life. The tragic consequences of motor vehicle crashes and impaired drivers that we see in the course of our work in no way dulls the emotions we feel when one of our own is so harmed. We keep Trooper McRae and his family in our prayers and our hearts as we go about our mission — the same mission that Trooper McRae has performed in service to others throughout his young life.
--Colonel John E. Mawn Jr.
Superintendent
Massachusetts State Police