State police release names of 3 victims of fiery crash

Rhode Island State Police headquarters in Scituate. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island State Police on Friday released the names of three young men who died in a fiery crash on Interstate 95 in West Warwick earlier this week.

They were identified as Brandon Verrocchio, 23, of West Greenwich, who was driving; and his passengers, Gianni Guerrieri, 22 of West Greenwich; and Alex Banner, 21, of Exeter.

No additional details about Tuesday morning’s crash were released.

Guerrieri has been in the news before. In 2016, when he was 17 years old, he was hailed as a hero for pulling a stranger from a burning vehicle that had crashed, WPRI-TV reported.

According to a previous statement about this week’s crash from state police, the car was heading south on the highway at a high rate of speed just before 2 a.m. when the driver lost control. The vehicle veered off the road onto the grass shoulder, struck a tree and burst into flames.

After the West Warwick Fire Department extinguished the flames, troopers located the driver and two passengers inside. They were all pronounced dead at the scene.