A Billerica police sergeant died Friday after he was struck by an excavator that was backing up at a construction site, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities’ initial investigation indicates that Sgt. Ian Taylor, 49, was working at the road construction site on Boston Road in Billerica when he was hit shortly before 2 p.m., the district attorney’s office said in a press release. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died.
Taylor was working a paid detail and helping move a tractor-trailer when he was hit, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said during a press conference on Friday. Everyone involved in the incident has been cooperative with authorities’ investigation, and more information about the incident will be released in coming weeks, she said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA) is investigating the incident, as are state and local police, the district attorney’s office said. Photos of the scene taken Friday afternoon show OSHA personnel already on site, as well as a medical helicopter and an ambulance.
Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost also spoke at the conference, saying that Taylor worked in law enforcement for 21 years before his death. He began working for the Billerica Police Department in 2011 and served there for 12 years.
“We’re all very emotional,” he said. “ ... Every single one of the officers that work with Ian love him like a brother.
Taylor was a detective who spent much of his career at the department assigned to a federal drug task force, Frost said. He was part of the substance abuse prevention committee in Billerica when he died, and would go out every week to meet with people impacted by drug abuse.
“Sgt. Taylor has done a lot for this community, for the community of Billerica and the region,” the police chief said. " ... He did it passionately. He loved helping the people in this community.”
Taylor leaves behind his wife, a daughter, two sons and his parents, Frost said.
“His life had meaning. He’s helped so many people. He’s saved so many people,” Frost said. “ ... I’m proud to have had him working for me here in Billerica.”
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