The driver of a van that crashed while transporting special-needs passengers was at the time high on Oxycodone and in possession of crack cocaine and other drug-abuse tools, according to authorities.
Addis Woldguiorguis, 51, of Dorchester, pleaded not guilty yesterday and was ordered held on $5,000 bail and told not to drive, according to the Middlesex district attorney’s office.
After the crash, police said they found an empty Oxycodone prescription bottle as well as crack and drug paraphernalia.
He spoke out at his arraignment yesterday and said he was blinded by the sun just before the crash, the Globe reported. He also told police he took the pills for various illnesses, including prostate cancer.
Woldguiorguis was driving 12 passengers to a rehab center when he crashed into a garbage truck in Newton on Monday. Everyone inside was injured; three were seriously harmed.
