Flowers are placed on the windshield of Rita Plante’s car on Blackstone Street in Blackstone, Mass., yesterday. After parking her car Tuesday night, Plante was killed when she was hit by a plow truck while walking home.

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The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

Two people forced into the streets by snow-packed sidewalks — a Woonsocket man going to work in the predawn darkness and a Blackstone, Mass., mother of five heading home in the early evening — were struck and killed by snowplows this week.

The plow driver in the Woonsocket accident, which occurred early yesterday morning, was cited by state police for equipment violations, while the police are still searching for the driver involved in the Blackstone accident on Tuesday.

“It’s just sad that this happened in two locations. I just pray our walkers will be more vigilant and drivers will control their vehicles,” said Michael Annarummo, Woonsocket’s director of public works and administration.

In Woonsocket, at 5:43 a.m. yesterday, it was still dark as 48-year-old Raymond Boucher Jr. walked south on Cumberland Street near Cass Avenue on his way to work at the CVS warehouse. Boucher was walking in the street with his back to traffic.

The police said they believe he never saw the plow that struck him from behind.

The driver, Krzysztof Mirga, 32, who was driving a dump truck with a plow attached, told police he did not see Boucher in the street, said Woonsocket Deputy Chief Richard Dubois at a news conference yesterday at police headquarters. Mirga hit Boucher with the plow blade. Boucher, who lived at St. Germaine Manor at 429 East School St., Woonsocket, was taken by rescue to Landmark Medical Center just down the block. He was pronounced dead at 6:26 a.m., Dubois said.

Mirga “felt the accident and got out and saw the man in the road,” Dubois said. Mirga works for K&K Masonry. He is not contracted by the city and was not plowing at the time, Dubois said.

A driver who was behind Mirga corroborated Mirga’s detailing of events, Dubois said. The state police cited Mirga for having a plow blade a foot-and-a-half half longer than allowed by state regulation, for operating a truck over the weight limit and for a turn signal violation. Dubois said that based on accounts of what happened, he did not believe there would be criminal charges.

Dubois said that it is likely that the uncleared sidewalks forced Boucher to walk in the street. “We have had two major snowstorms in four days. We have over 1,500 miles of sidewalks. The schools are first [to be cleared], then the businesses and the secondary streets,” Dubois said. “People are walking in the road. They are not walking as close to the sidewalk as they could.”

Dubois said that the uncleared sidewalk in question was the responsibility of the city but that they had not gotten to that part of the city yet. He cautioned people to wear reflective or light clothing so drivers would be better able to see them.

Annarummo, of the DPW, said that during a snowstorm, the city’s first priority is to clear the streets. Usually about 24 hours after that work is done, the city begins cleaning sidewalks where children walk to school. The city has 50 school zones, he said, and his department runs a day shift and a night shift to clear sidewalks. That takes about three days and then the city turns its attention toward the downtown.

“That [the sidewalk near the accident] is an area that we normally wouldn’t get to for a number of days. Part of the problem is it’s difficult to do this during the day. A lot has to be done at night when there is less traffic. We are on plan. The amount of street and sidewalks are just vast,” said Annarummo.

Standing in front of his son’s apartment at St. Germain Manor, Raymond Boucher said Ray Jr., the oldest of seven children, was an honest man who never looked for trouble. He was an avid runner and basketball player who had participated in the Special Olympics.

Boucher lived on the eighth floor just a few doors down from his father. “He checked on me in the morning before he went to work, when he came back and before he went to sleep. He was an angel,” the elder Boucher said.

“I was a combat commander and a Navy Seal. I know what hardship is,” he said, “but this hurts.”

In Blackstone on Tuesday, Rita Plante parked her car at the corner of Michelle Lane and Blackstone Street, about 200 yards from her house, a spot she used often because parking in the area is limited.

Similar to Woonsocket, the narrow sidewalks in town were piled high with snow and ice. It was about 5:30 p.m. and dark. Plante, 50, was walking in the road with a few bags of groceries.

The police said a large white pickup truck — a witness described it as a Ford F-series with an extended cab — hit Plante from behind on Blackstone Street. The truck had a yellow snowplow attached. A second car, driving behind the truck, also hit Plante.

When rescue workers arrived at the scene, Plante was badly hurt, with severe internal injuries and multiple fractures, the police said. She died en route to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

An autopsy report from the Rhode Island medical examiner’s office said that Plante died from multiple blunt force injuries.

The police are still searching for the driver of the pickup truck. The driver of the second car, who police did not identify but said did stop and remain on the scene, does not face any criminal charges, according to Blackstone Police Lt. Gregory Gilmore.

The police do not think speed was a factor in the accident. The speed limit on Blackstone Street is 30 mph.

Gilmore said the truck was not plowing the road and was not one of the town-contracted plow trucks. Gilmore said it is also unlikely that the driver was unaware that he hit Plante because witnesses say that he slowed down after the accident and then sped off.

“We’re hoping that someone gets a conscience and steps forward. This is a very serious crime,” he said.

Standing in front of the family’s gray, two-story house, Timothy Plante, 27 and the oldest of Plante’s five children, said that the family has been dealing with the shock of their mother’s death in their own ways.

The youngest, Andrew, 19, spent the afternoon sending notices to tow truck companies in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts to be on the lookout for the vehicle police described, said Timothy.

His father and sister were making funeral arrangements.

“She had four grandkids and she was all about them,” Timothy said. “She cared about a lot of people.”

At Dean Bank on Main Street yesterday, Plante’s coworkers remembered a friendly and endearing woman who loved her job. Plante joined the bank as a teller eight years ago and was the head teller. The bank set up a memorial scholarship in her memory.

“She had the biggest heart of any person I had ever met,” said Nicole Fortier, who ran the bank branch before moving recently to another in Franklin, Mass. “She was always the first one to step up and do what needed to be done.”

Blackstone Town Administrator Kenneth M. Bianchi said the town is responsible for clearing sidewalks, but public works crews have not cleared more than half the sidewalks in the community because they have been busy making sure roadways, the schools and storm drains are clear before the next storm hits this week.

“For the community, this is devastating. You agonize over whether you could have done better,” said Bianchi. “But we’re battling our own resources.”

Blackstone police are asking that anyone with information about Tuesday’s accident call the department at (508) 883-1212.

tpina@projo.com