Officer Bisnette Dies After Speeding into Utility Pole

A state police accident investigator has determined that Worcester Police Officer Mark D. Bisnette was probably speeding when his sport utility vehicle struck a pole in Holden Jan. 2, causing his death.

Officer Bisnette, 39, was off-duty and alone in his Ford Explorer when the SUV went off the road and struck a utility pole on Route 31 as he was headed toward Paxton at 2:30 a.m.

“A likely cause of this crash was Bisnette's operation (of the SUV) at an excessive speed for road and weather conditions resulting in his inability to safely negotiate an ‘S' type curvature in the roadway,” Trooper Anne Renzi, of the state police collision reconstruction team, wrote in her report a few days after the crash.

In the report, which was requested by the Telegram & Gazette, Trooper Renzi noted that the road was covered in snow, and that continuing snowfall made it difficult to estimate the speed of the vehicle or whether the off-duty officer used his brakes.

However, the trooper also noted that the force of the crash was great enough to sever the utility pole.

Significant portions of the 11-page report were blacked out, or redacted.

Jane O'Brien, an associate chief legal counsel for the state police, wrote in an accompanying letter to the T&G that the information was withheld because of a provision in the state public records law that exempts from disclosure material that violates the privacy of an individual.

In her report, Trooper Renzi added that it is unknown whether any other factors contributed to the crash, including medical issues, driver distraction, drowsiness or any other kind of impairment.

State public safety officials have said toxicology tests were performed but were not needed to determine the cause of Officer Bisnette's death. The results of such tests are protected by medical privacy laws.

An external examination performed by a state medical examiner found that the officer died from asphyxiation and loss of oxygen to the brain, possibly as a result of being strangled by his seat belt as he hung upside down in the SUV.