Mass MoCA Director Facing Charges in Fatal Crash

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The director of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is being charged in the fatal accident last year that killed an Adams man. 

 

According to reports in The Berkshire Eagle on Thursday, Joseph Thompson is scheduled to be arraigned on June 19 on a charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation in Northern Berkshire District Court. 

 

A 2001 Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by Steven Fortier, 49, of Adams collided with Thompson's 2015 Audi on Church Street near the intersection with Ashland. Fortier was heading south and Thompson north the evening of July 20, 2018. 

 

A show-cause hearing was held on May 9. Police Chief Jason Wood told The Eagle that the department had waited on the state police reconstruction report before determining whether to move forward with charges. 

 

Thompson's attorney, Timothy Shugrue, says his client is not guilty of the misdemeanor, noting to The Eagle that it had been confirmed by police that Thompson had not had alcohol or was in use of his phone. 

 

"I'm very confident that he's innocent and I'm very confident it's going to be found that way," he told The Eagle.

 

Fortier had been at the Mohawk Tavern the night of the accident and his condition, according to witnesses, along with several unrelated incidents regarding overserving, led to the bar's hours being reduced for several months last fall.