On the night of Sunday, Feb. 15, weeks before his 24th birthday, Alfredo “Freddy” Alves was violently struck by a vehicle on Battles Street in Brockton. Despite the severity of the collision, which shattered the vehicle’s windshield, the driver sped away, according to a police report.
Already devastated by the 23-year-old’s death, Alves’ family was shocked and angered to learn the driver of the vehicle had been identified as off-duty Hanover Police Officer Thomas Hayes, who had allegedly spent the hours before the crash drinking at a Brockton strip club, according to the report.
“We want justice for Freddy,” Alves’ cousin Laila Canuto told The Enterprise Feb. 19. “He didn’t deserve to die the way he did. As a police officer, they should have known better. They should have provided first aid. They should have stopped the car,” she said…