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Months after cyclist killed in Cambridge, prosecutors seek criminal charges against driver
Prosecutors have submitted an application for a criminal complaint after State Police completed a collision analysis investigation. The driver was not identified.
Prosecutors are looking to charge the driver who allegedly struck and killed a Newton man — whose death escalated calls for bike safety in the city — last year.
John Corcoran, 62, was struck by an SUV as he cycled along Memorial Drive in Cambridge in September 2024, and died from his injuries. At the time, officials said the vehicle was driven by a man in his 20s.
A spokesperson for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that an application for a criminal complaint was filed, and the clerk magistrate will hold a hearing to determine if there is probable cause to issue charges. The driver was not identified, and the DA did not specify what charges prosecutors are pursuing.
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Corcoran was biking near the Boston University Boathouse, at a part of Memorial Drive where the on-street bike lane merges onto the sidewalk. The initial investigation indicated that the driver lost control of his vehicle, police said in September. Massachusetts State Police said their Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section completed its investigation on March 4.
After Corcoran’s death, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which operates Memorial Drive, announced short term improvements to infrastructure in the area, including widening of sidewalks, improvements to median islands, and a fresh coat of paint for bike crossings. DCR implemented a permanent speed limit reduction from 35 to 25 mph.
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After Corcoran’s death, hundreds of bicyclists blocked the BU Bridge rotary for three minutes, one minute for each bicyclist who died in Cambridge in the previous months.
Kim Staley, a 55-year-old from Florida, and Minh-Thi Nguyen, a 24-year-old student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were both hit and killed in June when trucks turned into their paths. Nguyen’s family recently sued the truck’s company for more than $30 million.
At a ghost bike ceremony for Corcoran at the site of the crash, his family and advocates spoke of improving safety on Memorial Drive, which has long been a concern for bikers. State Rep. Mike Connolly shared a letter dated back to 2023 calling on DCR to improve the bike lanes.
“We’re very upset that there was a move for change, and that it didn’t happen, especially because two other bikers died here in Cambridge,” said Jack Corcoran, according to Boston Globe reporter Shannon Larson. “We’re hoping that my dad … will be the last before the city can really start to make some beneficial change.”
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