Victim's Family Relieved By Charges Against National Grid Driver In Westford Crash

WESTFORD (CBS) - With a National Grid manager facing charges for a crash that killed a Westford grandmother, the victim's family says it feels relieved that the slow wheels of justice are finally moving.

"I feel better that I can tell my mother-in-law someone is taking the blame," Frank Ye said in an interview with WBZ-TV.

The manager, 50-year-old Jeffrey Fisher of Coventry, Rhode Island was road testing a truck and trailer rig on Route 495 in Southboro last August, when police say he lost control of the vehicle.

A backhoe he was hauling on the trailer fell off and crushed a passing minivan being driven by Sharon Wang, the daughter of Xiaoyun Jiang.

Nearly a year later, a clerk magistrate found probable cause to charge Fisher with motor vehicle homicide, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked lanes violation and an impeded operation violation.

"It's a big relief for us this case is moving forward," said Ye.

The family has already filed a wrongful death suit against National Grid alleging the utility was well aware that the medium-sized truck couldn't handle the weight of the backhoe.

Similar trucks had been pulled off the road almost a month before the accident.

"I don't want the same thing to happen to other people again," said Wang, who is still recovering from painful injuries she suffered that day.

Fisher, who was not injured in the accident, faces arraignment on August 20.