fb-pixelTow truck driver shields man in wheelchair who ended up inside Prudential Tunnel - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Tow truck driver shields man in wheelchair who ended up inside Prudential Tunnel

Police on Tuesday thanked a tow truck driver for assisting a man in a wheelchair who somehow propelled himself into inside of the Prudential Tunnel.
Police on Tuesday thanked a tow truck driver for assisting a man in a wheelchair who somehow propelled himself into inside of the Prudential Tunnel.

Police on Tuesday credited a tow truck driver with preventing a possible tragedy after he assisted a 56-year-old man in a wheelchair who ended up inside of the Prudential Tunnel as traffic rushed past him.

Around 8:16 a.m. Tuesday, officers received calls from several drivers who reported seeing a man in a wheelchair traveling westbound in the tunnel along the Massachusetts Turnpike, at the bottom of the Clarendon Street on-ramp, State Police spokesman David Procopio said.

“The gentleman in the wheelchair was in the right lane, along the right wall” of the tunnel, Procopio said in a statement.

A tow truck driver traveling in the same direction as the unidentified man reacted quickly to the situation by slowing his vehicle down and then putting on the yellow hazard lights on top of the flatbed. Police said the driver used the vehicle to shield the person in the wheelchair from oncoming traffic.

Police arrived soon after and requested an ambulance for the man. He was transported to Tufts Medical Center for evaluation, Procopio said. The man did not have any visible injuries.

Advertisement



Officials from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation released video footage of the incident Tuesday afternoon.

In the one-minute clip, the man in the wheelchair can be seen slowly scooting along on the right-hand side of the tunnel, as cars zoom by.

The man then appears to cross over a lane to get closer to the tunnel’s wall. At that point, the tow truck comes into view, its yellow lights flashing as it drives slowly on the right side before stopping.

Procopio said he did not know how the man entered the tunnel.

But he said officials are grateful for the motorists who called to report the situation and for the tow truck driver “who took steps to protect the man until first responders could arrive.”

Advertisement



“The tow driver possibly prevented a tragedy by shielding the man until we could get there, and we are glad the gentleman was not hurt,” he said.


Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.