Local Man Dies After Car Plunges Into Charles River

By DANIEL LIBON (Patch Staff)

A car crash on Charles River Road near Leverett Circle in Boston has taken the life of two people, including a local man.

Rian Arcand, 36, of North Smithfield, and Rebecca Smith, 36, of Providence, have been identified as the two victims, according to the Massachusetts State Police.

Saturday night around 6:40 p.m., police responded to a report of a vehicle which had driven off the road and had entered the Charles River. A preliminary investigation indicated that a 2010 Toyota Tacoma truck was traveling north on Nashua Street before running a red light at Leverett Circle and side-swiping a 2008 Acura MDX which was already traveling northbound in the circle.

The Tacoma then went off the road and into the water on the east side of the northbound travel lanes of the roadway.

The two occupants, Arcand and Smith, were extricated from the vehicle and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with life-threatening injuries. They were subsequently pronounced dead at the hospital.

The driver of the Acura, a 35-year-old woman from Milton, and her passenger, a 36-year-old woman from New York, were both uninjured in the crash.

No other victims were found during a search of the water.

The crash remains under investigation.