The mother of a man allegedly killed by a State Police sergeant in a drunken cruiser crash more than two years ago got to see the officer for the first time in court Wednesday.
Lynn Schettino, mother of Special Olympian Angelo Schettino, thought she might get an apology from Sgt. Scott Quigley after he was arraigned on a motor vehicle homicide charge in Middlesex Superior Court.
Regardless of the allegation that he was intoxicated at the time of the crash, “I was hoping he might come and, you know, apologize, because I know that he did hit the wheelchair van,” she said.
But instead of an apology, Schettino said she only saw the back of his head.
“I feel really bad,” she told the Herald. “I feel bad for his family.”
Quigley lawyer Christina Pujals Ronan expressed condolences for the Schettino family, but maintained that her client, who pleaded not guilty, was innocent. Accusations that the incident was covered up are false, she said.
“Well, not finding something out after two years, not even to know who the driver was, something’s not right,” Schettino said.
“If it was me or you, I mean… this would have been all set two years ago,” she said.
It was her wrongful death suit that finally brought Quigley’s alleged blood alcohol level of .11 (the legal limit is .08) to the surface.
The idea that a police officer might be responsible for her son’s death because he was drunk still baffles Schettino.
“He arrests people like that. He doesn’t do that, in my mind,” she said.
Angelo was injured in the crash in December 2023 and died a month later in the hospital.
Schettino recalled Angelo as a “sweet boy, everybody loved him.” She closed her eyes for a moment.
Angelo had been in a day program before he died, and the people in the program loved him, too, she said.
“They miss him… He lit people up,” she said, telling the Herald that her son always drew people pictures and was nice to everyone he met.
She recalled taking trips up to New Hampshire with him to see motorcycle rides, and how those riders would always rev their engines for him.
She said, “It was just a joy.”
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