Last modified: Thursday, February 1, 2007 1:03 AM EST Matthew McCaffrey is chased across East Street in Wrentham by a television news crew as he heads for an SUV parked nearby following his arraignment Wednesday in Wrentham District Court. (Staff photo by MARTIN GAVIN) Driver charged in wrong-way crash BY DAVID LINTON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF WRENTHAM - Police say they tried in vain and for miles to stop a Boston firefighter speeding the wrong way on Interstate 495 early Wednesday, before he crashed into two oncoming vehicles, seriously injuring one of the drivers. Matthew J. McCaffrey, 29, a veteran firefighter, drove the wrong way for about 15 miles at speeds up to 100 mph before crashing headon into one vehicle and careening into the other, state police allege. McCaffrey, a recent law school graduate scheduled to take the bar exam in two weeks, now faces a second-offense drunken-driving charge. The episode began about 3 a.m., when troopers from the Millbury barracks spotted a pickup truck traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-495 in Bellingham, state police said. The troopers were responding to a 911 cell phone call from a motorist in Hopkinton who reported a wrongway driver. The troopers traveled south on the southbound side of the highway and used blue lights in an attempt to warn McCaffrey, but lost him in a treeline in the median separating the highway, said Sgt. Robert Bousquet, a state police spokesman. "They were paralleling him, trying to get his attention to make him aware he was going the wrong way, but they were unsuccessful," Bousquet said. In another attempt to prevent disaster, state police from the Foxboro barracks stopped traffic traveling north on I-495 at the Route 1A exit in Wrentham, but not before a few vehicles got through, including those involved in the crash, Bousquet said. McCaffrey's pickup truck collided headon just north of Route 1A with a northbound car driven by Joseph Cabral III, 41, of Taunton. Both vehicles then collided with another car driven by Kimba Ngoy, 43, of Milford, a preliminary investigation by Trooper Jason Morse determined. Cabral suffered serious injuries and was trapped inside his mangled car until he was freed by Wrentham firefighters using the Jaws of Life cutting tool with the assistance of firefighters from Plainville and Franklin. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence with two broken legs, a broken arm and bleeding from his head. The hospital reported his condition as undetermined Wednesday night. Ngoy suffered minor injuries and was taken to Milford Hospital for treatment. McCaffrey was treated for minor injuries at Milford Hospital. In addition to second-offense drunken driving, McCaffrey was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in an accident with serious bodily injuries, driving to endanger, speeding and driving the wrong way, according to court records. McCaffrey pleaded innocent, and was freed without bail from Wrentham District Court. During a bail hearing, Assistant District Attorney Emily Nesson said that after the crash McCaffrey had an odor of alcohol, slurred his words and had bloodshot eyes. He told police he was coming from Worcester, she said. Nesson requested $25,000 cash bail for McCaffrey, citing a 2003 conviction he had for drunken driving in Maine and two minor alcohol-related offenses that a public defender said were a decade old, and were dismissed. Dedham lawyer Gregory Doyle, who represented McCaffrey at the hearing, said McCaffrey was on the wrong side of the highway because he accidentally drove beyond a detour in the vicinity of the accident. But state police said there was no construction zone near the area. Judge Warren Powers agreed to set McCaffrey free, but ordered him to abstain from alcohol and not drive after his court-appointed lawyer argued that McCaffrey would appear in court as required. Because McCaffrey was taken to the hospital immediately after the accident, police were not able to conduct field sobriety tests. When questioned at the state police barracks, he told police he wanted his lawyer, according to a state police report. Nesson said McCaffrey also declined to provide a blood sample, so she filed a motion to require McCaffrey to release his medical records and the results of blood drawn for medical reasons. McCaffrey told the court he would hire his own lawyer, so no arguments were made on the motion Wednesday. The case was continued for a pretrial hearing Feb. 27. McCaffrey left the courthouse with his brother, followed by television cameramen and reporters, but did not respond to questions. The crash remains under investigation with the assistance of the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section. The highway was shut down after the crash. Traffic was diverted to Route 1A until about 6 a.m. State police were assisted at the scene by troopers from the state police Crime Scene Services unit, MassHighway and Wrentham police.