No Criminal Charges in Death of Uxbridge Officer Stephen LaPorta, Struck by a Tractor-Trailer on Route 146

The Worcester County District Attorney's Office says no criminal charges will be filed in the death of Uxbridge Police Officer Stephen LaPorta, who was killed in January when a tractor-trailer struck him on Route 146 while he was helping a motorist.

A spokesperson for the district attorney said Saturday that the investigation had concluded and that the incident warrants no criminal charges, WCVB reported. Boston 25 News and WHDH also reported the decision. The office has not published a report explaining how it reached that conclusion.

According to the district attorney's office's initial release on Jan. 7, 2026, LaPorta was outside his vehicle assisting a motorist on Route 146 northbound, near mile marker 5.9 in Uxbridge, at about 12:40 a.m. that morning when he was struck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the tractor-trailer was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, and the motorist he was helping was not physically hurt, the office said.

LaPorta, 43, of Uxbridge, had been with the department for about two years, according to the January release. WCVB reported that he worked as a dispatcher and part-time officer before becoming a full-time officer in June 2024, and that he left a wife and a 13-year-old son.

The January release listed the agencies involved in the investigation: State Police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office, the Uxbridge police and fire departments, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, MassDOT, and three State Police units, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section and Crime Scene Services. Crash reconstruction and commercial vehicle inspections are the parts of such an investigation that typically examine speed, braking, lighting, road conditions and the truck's mechanical condition.

Massachusetts law requires drivers approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights on to slow down and, on highways with at least two lanes in the same direction, to move out of the adjacent lane when it is practicable, under the state's move-over statute. Whether that law, or any other, applied to the driver's conduct is the kind of question a prosecutor weighs in deciding on charges. The district attorney's statement, as reported, did not say what the investigation found about the truck's speed, the visibility at the scene or the actions of the driver.

A decision not to bring criminal charges is not a finding that no one was at fault. It means prosecutors concluded the evidence would not support a criminal case. Civil claims and federal motor carrier reviews are separate processes.

What has not been made public: the reconstruction findings, the name of the truck's driver and carrier, and whether the district attorney's office will release its full report.