DoorDash driver delivering Dunkin’ follows GPS into water, MA cops say. They’re charged

It started out like a typical Massachusetts story: a DoorDash driver was delivering Dunkin’ to a customer.

It ended with the driver’s car submerged in water and charges filed, according to a news release from the Middleton Police Department.

The driver was on their way to the customer’s house for the delivery the morning of Sept. 22, police say. A GPS took them down a dirt road, the driver told police, then they “somehow ended up driving into a body of water,” according to Middleton police.

The driver managed to get out of the car and walk out of the woods to a nearby home. They called the police and informed them of the submerged car in the woods.

“Middleton Police Officers arrived on scene and found the operator panicked, claiming that their vehicle was underwater,” according to the release.

The driver was holding the Dunkin’ delivery in their hand, police said.

First responders began looking for the car and found it partly submerged and still running in the water behind a home. They alerted the homeowner and fished the car out of the water. The vehicle didn’t appear to leak fluids into the water, police said.

The fire department checked out the driver, who asked to be taken to a hospital, according to the release. Police did not disclose the driver’s identity or their current condition.

Police said they were charging the driver with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and requested immediate threat license suspension from the state’s Registry of Motor Vehicles.

McClatchy News reached out to Middleton police for more information but did not immediately heard back.

Middleton is about 20 miles north of Boston.

This story was originally published September 27, 2023 at 12:05 PM with the headline "DoorDash driver delivering Dunkin’ follows GPS into water, MA cops say. They’re charged."