Plymouth officer dies after on-duty motorcycle crash

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A police officer died after a motorcycle crash on Samoset Street in Plymouth Tuesday afternoon.

The officer was identified as Gregory Maloney, a member of the motorcycle unit since 2009. He and another officer were traveling west bound at about 2:30 p.m. when the crash happened.

Maloney was transported to a local hospital and then airlifted to Mass. General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Maloney was married with children. His wife was a local school teacher. He was a Plymouth police officer for 17 years and even took part in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.

Residents like Dave Mendes stopped by the police station to pay their respects.

"I grew up in Plymouth all my life, I know a lot of the officers and things like that so I figured I'd just come by and leave some flowers and pay my respects," he said.

Marty Mason of the Plymouth Police Department was fond of Maloney and said he was always smiling.

"Always had a smile for you. Always an encouraging word. No matter what was going on in his life, he found a positive," Mason said.

Maloney's body was moved from the hospital to the medical examiner's office Tuesday night and then back to Plymouth on Wednesday.

Plymouth's police chief said there is no obvious reason for the crash and it doesn't appear the motorcycles touched each other.

People in the area tell us the stretch of road where the crash happened is very dangerous.

Investigators are expected to continue looking for the cause of the crash.

Cox Media Group