WHITMAN, Mass. (AP) – The veteran who backed a van over his 80-year-old friend and killed him during the town’s Veterans Day parade faces a charge of motor vehicle homicide by neglect, a police official said one day after the victim, William A. Hammond of Abington, was buried.

“All the officers that were involved in it put all their notes together, and we feel that’s the appropriate charge,” Whitman Deputy Police Chief Raymond Nelson said Wednesday of the case against Joseph E. Davis.

Davis, a World War II veteran like the victim, was to be formally charged Thursday morning in Brockton District Court, although he was not required to appear in person. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 21/2 years in jail and a fine of $300 to $3,000.

Nelson said the neglect part of the charge is defined as a driver behaving with such negligence that it endangers the life of the public.

Nelson said the Plymouth district attorney’s office would decide whether to pursue the case.

The state Registry of Motor Vehicles also revoked Davis’ driver’s license Wednesday, after the Whitman police declared him an “immediate threat” on the roads, spokeswoman Amie O’Hearn said.

Hammond, a decorated veteran and captain of the local VFW chapter’s color guard, was lining up for the parade a week ago when he was struck by the van driven by Davis, also 80, of East Bridgewater. Hammond was pronounced dead at the scene.

Afterward, Davis was treated for distress at a local hospital.

A spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney’s office has not commented on the case.

Hammond was a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge who stayed active in veterans activities. He was a past commander of VFW Post 697, and rode his motorcycle to a national veterans meeting in Cincinnati this year to participate in a motorcycle parade.

“It’s a tragic circumstance for everybody, not only Joe Davis and obviously Bill and his family, but the whole post,” said Robert Wessa, junior vice commander.

“We’re all shook up about it. When it happens to your own, it’s really hard to take.”