Authorities in Massachusetts released a drunk-driving Brazilian who crashed into a state police vehicle, prompting immigration officers to arrest him outside the courthouse.
Lucas Gustavo DiBenedetto was initially arrested on May 31 by Massachusetts State Police after driving the wrong way on Route 1 in Peabody, Mass., about 20 miles north of Boston.
He was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol when he struck a state trooper’s cruiser. The trooper was taken to the hospital but has since been released and is recovering.
DiBenedetto, 41, of Newburyport, was charged with driving under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle , and driving the wrong way.
NEW: @ICEgov has arrested an illegal immigrant accused of driving drunk, traveling the wrong way and crashing into a Massachusetts State Police cruiser—sending a trooper to the hospital.
Authorities say Lucas Gustavo Dibenedetto, a Brazilian national and Italian citizen, was… pic.twitter.com/zrD0k39tno
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) June 4, 2026
Despite the charges, local officials released him from jail, and this incident comes after a fatality on the same stretch of highway that claimed the life of State Trooper Kevin Trainor in early May.
U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement arrested DiBenedetto when he showed up at Peabody District Court for his arraignment on June 2, CBS News Boston reported.
Reporters were on scene when he tried to flee and ICE officers detained him. An agent told CBS News Boston they were “detaining an illegal who was involved in a very high-profile incident.”
He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Officials said DiBenedetto is from Brazil but also an Italian citizen.
DiBenedetto entered the United States with a visa on Jan. 5, 2007, and had permission to stay in the country for three months, DHS said. He chose to overstay his visa and was never deported.
“Following his arrest, sanctuary politicians in Massachusetts released this dangerous criminal from jail without notifying ICE,” said DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “Sanctuary politicians must stop gambling with the lives of Americans and start cooperating with us to make America safe again.”
DiBenedetto was spotted driving south in the northbound lane of Route 1 around 2 a.m. Sunday, May 31 before crashing his pickup truck into a responding trooper’s cruiser. State police said he exhibited signs of being intoxicated following the crash.
Officers reported his speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol. He told police he was driving home from a restaurant in Peabody, according to CBS News Boston.
DiBenedetto was set to face charges of operating under the influence of liquor and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, after he had initially posted $500 bail, Boston Herald reported.
DHS also shared news of DiBenedetto’s arrest on social media and said ICE ERO Boston assisted with his arrest.
WATCH: @EROBoston ARRESTS a criminal illegal alien who was RELEASED by Massachusetts sanctuary politicians after hospitalizing a State Trooper.
Lucas Gustavo Dibenedetto, a criminal illegal alien, faces criminal charges for operating under the influence of liquor, negligent… https://t.co/T2K49ADvMt pic.twitter.com/5ajyByR8Yp
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 3, 2026
“Under @POTUS Trump and @SecMullinDHS, criminal illegal aliens are NOT welcome in the U.S. — and we will continue to ARREST AND REMOVE them from our communities,” DHS wrote.
This was the second wrong-way crash involving a state trooper on Route 1. Trooper Kevin Trainor and the driver who hit him died after a head-on crash on May 6 in Lynnfield.
The at-fault driver, 50-year-old Hernan Ramon Marrero, also died and had previous citations for ‘wrong way operation’ and two for speeding. Authorities are still investigating why Marrero was in the wrong lane and news outlets did not detail his immigration status.
The trooper involved in the May 31 crash was in the same recruit training class as Trainor, according to the state police union.
“Regardless of a driver’s background, status, or history, driving the wrong way on a divided highway is a reckless and potentially lethal act that has no place on Massachusetts roads,” the union said in a statement, per CBS Boston.
The Boston Herald asked Democrat Gov. Maura Healey if she approved ICE’s detention of DiBenedetto. It’s unclear if he will be deported instead of criminally prosecuted in Massachusetts. She deferred the question to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.
“It really, really upsets me to know that this happened, in terms of somebody like this driving drunk,” she told the Herald. “They should be held fully accountable and that’s what should happen.”
According to the DA’s office, Judge Frances Dallmeyer issued a default warrant for DiBenedetto in the wrong-way driving case.
Di Benedetto was captured in the courthouse parking lot, which is exempt from the Protect Act. The law bars ICE from making arrests on state property owned by the executive branch.
Across the country, illegal immigrant drivers suspected of driving drunk have caused several high-profile crashes, including a quadruple fatality in Oklahoma that killed four young people. That driver was also going the wrong way on the interstate.
