YARMOUTH – The Massachusetts State Police and the State Police Association of Massachusetts on Wednesday morning, dedicated a memorial at the State Police-Yarmouth Barracks to Trooper Ellen Engelhardt, who died in 2011 from injuries sustained in the line of duty in 2003.
Speakers included Trooper Engelhardt’s daughter Lora Tedeman, MSP Colonel John Mawn Jr., and Trooper Patrick McNamara, President of the State Police Association of Massachusetts.
The memorial is located outside the State Police-Yarmouth Barracks, 1172 State Road., South Yarmouth.
Trooper Engelhardt, then 50, was on patrol and parked on the side of the road on Route 25 in Wareham on July 26, 2003 when her cruiser was struck by a drunk driver operating at an extremely high speed. She suffered severe brain injuries that left her unable to speak and communicate and required her to have continual care in a neurological rehabilitation facility. She died as a result of those injuries on June 1, 2011.
The drunk driver who struck Trooper Engelhardt was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after the initial crash. After Trooper Engelhardt’s passing, the driver was additionally charged with vehicular homicide and sentenced to three years in prison.
Trooper Engelhardt served as a Massachusetts State Trooper for nearly 23 years. She was a graduate of the Department’s 63rd Recruit Training Troop in 1981.
Trooper Engelhardt was a fixture for many years directing morning commuters at the offramp from Route 6 to Willow Street in Yarmouth. The interchange was posthumously named in her honor.
Slide show photos by John P. Carroll/CWN
