Wife Mourns Husband Hit And Killed By Alleged Drugged Driver

STOUGHTON (CBS) -- A longtime Stoughton resident was killed Friday night after he was hit by a car.

71-year-old Joseph Brady, Jr. was crossing Route 27 trying to get to his roadside Christmas tree shop in Stoughton when he was hit.

"Just hit him, threw him into the air and that was it," wife Linda Brady told WBZ-TV. "Knocked his shoes off he hit the windshield and was 25 to 35 feet down the road when they found him."

Police say the driver, 33-year-old Michael Burns, of Taunton, was high on drugs when he got behind the wheel. According to police, Burns had just delivered pizza to a home nearby.

"I hope they throw the book at him.I hope they charge him with everything," Linda said. "I hope they charge him with homicide, drugs the whole nine yards, I want him gone."

Joseph Brady was taken to medical helicopter to Boston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Brady's passion was auto racing. He had owned race cars for five decades and was a member of the New England Racing Hall of Fame.

"He was a legend and I say he was a legend because of his racing history," sister Linda Brady Beals said. "All I can remember is a race car being in his yard my whole life."

But even those who worked with him at countless racing venues over the years remember more than that.

"He was one of my heroes one of my friends and he taught me a lot more about life than he ever did about racing," friend Dana Thomas said.

Burns is being held on $30,000 bail. He is expected to be arraigned Monday in Stoughton District Court.

The incident remains under investigation.