A GoFundMe campaign created in honor of a 44-year-old Barnstable man, who was killed last week in a multiple-vehicle crash during which he was thrown from his vehicle, is almost halfway to its goal.
The campaign was started on behalf of Valkisergio Costa Silva, who died when he was thrown from a van that crashed into another vehicle on I-95 in Topsfield on Friday, July 28.
The GoFundMe is looking to raise $30,000 dollars and has collected more than $14,000 as of Monday morning.
The crash occurred Friday at about 4:19 p.m., which resulted in “heavy delays in the area,” according to a tweet from Massachusetts State Police.
Two men were traveling south in a 2008 GMC Acadia SUV when, for reasons that are still being investigated, they slowed down “suddenly and rapidly” before coming to a stop near mile marker 71, State Police said in statement.
Simultaneously, a 52-year-old Peabody man driving a 2007 Chevrolet Impala behind the Acadia started to brake to try to avoid hitting the stopped Acadia.
However, as the Impala slowed, it veered to its left toward the grass median and eventually collided with the 2006 Chevrolet Express Van that Costa Silva was riding in, according to the statement.
The van, which was traveling in the leftmost of the four southbound lanes of the highway, then started to slow down and move to its left in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid hitting the Impala.
The Impala then struck the van, causing the vehicle to leave the road, slide across the grass median and roll over one and a half times. Costa Silva and another passenger were thrown from the vehicle as a result, police said.
Following the fatal crash, law enforcement arrested 30-year-old David Guzman and charged him with interfering with a police officer. The Lynn man posted bail, and his court appearance is pending.
Meanwhile another man, who is believed to have been driving the car Guzman was in, “is still being sought,” State Police said. He, along with Guzman, ran away from the crash into nearby woods, prompting an extensive search by numerous State Police patrol troopers, K-9 teams and an Air Wing helicopter crew, police said.
The incident shut down three southbound lanes and two northbound lanes of the highway for different periods of time. The area was cleared by around 7:40 p.m. Friday, according to State Police.
The fatal crash remains under investigation. People interested in donating to the GoFundMe can click here.
