Articles Posted in Car Accidents

A Gordon College freshman died in a car crash Saturday in the southeastern Massachusetts town of Lakeville.

Officials pronounced Monica DeMello, 18, of Middleborough, dead at the scene after being involved in a two-vehicle accident on Route 44, according to a statement from the Lakeville Police Department.

The other driver, Kathleen Allen, 23, of Middleborough, is scheduled to be arraigned in Wareham District Court on a number of charges, including drunken driving negligence, motor vehicle homicide, drunken driving with serious injury and negligence, driving to endanger, and a marked lanes violation. Emergency responders transported her unidentified passenger by medical helicopter to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Gordon College President D. Michael Lindsay wrote on the school’s Facebook page, “This is a tragedy and a shock to all of us, especially on the eve of Easter.” Lindsay said university officials will be talking with students to determine the best way for faculty, staff, and students to “celebrate Monica’s life and to grieve her loss as a community.” “May the blessed assurance of Monica’s place with our risen Savior be a comfort in these coming days,” Lindsay wrote.

A Facebook page created in DeMello’s honor now has over 900 members. The introduction page read, “We were blessed by such a beautiful person and the world is a better place by having her. You’ve earned your Angel wings Monica, now fly over us all and protect us.” Family, friends, classmates, former classmates, and well-wishers have all posted comments expressing their grief and shock at her death.

DeMello graduated from Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical High School, and formerly lived in Taunton, MA. Her mother and sister live in Middleborough, and her father resides in Florida.

Rick Sweeney, the college’s vice president for marketing and communications, said the school is planning “some opportunity for the entire campus to come together.” He described DeMello’s passing as a tragedy for her family and friends, as well as the other driver involved. The community will “remember her as a wonderful girl full of life,” he said.

Notifying the Gordon College community was challenging, Sweeney said, because students were off for Good Friday and the Monday after Easter. Students will be back on campus, where about 1,530 undergraduates live, this week.
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Police claim a patron left Buck’s Bar & Grill without paying his tab, climbed into his car, and rammed a customer who chased him outside trying to get him to pay his bill.

Captain Rick Fuller said the driver, Michael K. Fay, 48, of Weymouth, MA refused to pay his bill and then left the restaurant. “The victim followed him outside and demanded that he return and pay the bar tab,” Fuller said. “The suspect attempted to back out and struck the victim, pinning him between two vehicles. The suspect then fled the area.”

Fay now faces criminal charges including leaving the scene of an accident after causing personal injury, operating under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury, operating a motor vehicle to endanger and leaving an accident scene after causing property damage.

Emergency responders transported the alleged victim, a 38-year-old Weymouth man, to South Shore Hospital for treatment of severe trauma, said Fuller. “The victim was later transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston because of the severity of his injuries,” he said. The incident took place at around 8:36 p.m.

Police found Fay shortly after the incident on North Street after officer Ryan Hamacher recognized the license plate number and vehicle matched the description witnesses provided, Fuller said. “It was confirmed that Fay was the suspect in this hit-and-run pedestrian crash,” he said.

Fay allegedly failed numerous field sobriety tests before officials charged him with operating under the influence and other offenses, according to Fuller.

Police held Fay overnight at police headquarters on $5,000 cash bail before his arraignment, Fuller said.

“The accident is currently being investigated by the Weymouth Police Fatal Crash Reconstruction Team,” Fuller stated.
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Two women were hurt when the vehicle they were in crashed and became lodged under a tanker truck on the Mass Pike in Framingham, MA.

The accident occurred when a 2011 Honda Pilot traveling in the left lane drifted into the breakdown lane, struck a guard rail, swung back across the road and hit the side of a 2006 Western Star Tanker Trailer, said Trooper Thomas McCarthy in his report. This caused the tanker to jackknife and block all three lanes. A third vehicle, a 2013 Honda CRV carrying Lisa Nguyen, 32, of Malden, and Trang Pham, 39, of Everett, crashed and became stuck under the tanker.

Framingham EMS brought Pham and Nguyen to Leonard Morse Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The driver of the tanker was not injured and the operator of the Honda Pilot sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The accident resulted in the closure of all traffic lanes for an hour during the rescue operation, investigation, and clean-up, backing up traffic for about five miles.

Multiple people contacted the State Police Barracks in Weston about the crash on Route 90 Westbound at the 115 mile marker in Framingham. State police, and Framingham and Natick Fire and EMS all responded to the crash.

Troop E of the Massachusetts State Police and the State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section are investigating the accident.
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A vehicle with five juveniles and an open container of alcohol struck and injured a mother and daughter, said Arlington Police Captain Richard Flynn.

Police responded to the incident on Sunday at 6:30 p.m., after the car full of juveniles crashed into the automobile carrying a mother and her daughter, which then hit a car parked in a driveway. All three vehicles sustained major front-end damage.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free the daughter from the second car, Flynn said. She reported back and hip pain, and was bleeding from the head, while her mother complained of back and neck pain. Emergency responders brought them both to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Three juveniles left the other car unharmed, Flynn said. An officer smelled alcohol on them and noticed an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, but they all denied drinking. The female driver passed field sobriety tests. Police tracked down two young men who fled the vehicle, Flynn said. When Flynn asked why they left, they claimed they were worried of getting in trouble, but denied drinking, he said.

Police charged all five juveniles with possession of alcohol as minors, having an open container in a vehicle, and the driver with speeding and operating a vehicle to endanger, Flynn said.
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A single car crash knocked out power to hundreds of residents in Longmeadow, MA.

Longmeadow police and fire departments responded to the accident that occurred just before 6:30 p.m. near the Longmeadow Country Club. Slick road conditions caused the 16-year-old woman driver, whose name authorities did not release, to lose control of the vehicle she was operating and strike a telephone pole at 400 Shaker Road, resulting in the outage. The woman was able to free herself from the vehicle before it burst into flames.

Fire Captain Andrew Fraser said it was a miracle that she escaped her vehicle safely. “No one can figure out how she got out without getting electrocuted. It was a 1 in a million chance,” says Captain Fraser.

A witness to the accident, Sarah McCarthy, helped save the driver’s life. McCarthy was passing by after staying late at work when she and her daughter saw the minivan slide on ice, cross Shaker Road, and collide with the telephone pole. The 16-year-old girl got out of the vehicle and looked stunned, standing within feet of 13,000 volt power lines. McCarthy recognized the girl as one of her daughter’s friends. “I called over to her come here now in the best motherly tone I could. She got into the back of my car. I threw it in reverse and just as that happened, there was an explosion,” McCarthy said.

Longmeadow Police Captain John Stankiewicz said the girl was lucky. In my career, I have not seen something of this magnitude where somebody survived. She is a very fortunate young lady,” he said. Most of the time, he added, it’s safer to stay in your car if wires fall on it because the car is grounded. “It’s the lesser of two evils. You have to pick your poison. In this situation, she chose the right course of action,” he said.

The crashed caused about 650 Western Mass. Electric customers to lose electricity. WMEC said they sent a crew to make repairs, and had power turned on for just about every affected customer by 8:30 p.m. They hope to restore power to any remaining customers as quickly as possible.

The accident resulted in approximately $100,000 in damages to three poles, phone and power lines, and equipment, said Fire Captain Fraser.
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A Good Samaritan helped saved a woman from a fiery car after she crashed head-on into another vehicle in Westminster last night.

The young woman was driving on Route 140 when she swerved into the other lane and struck an oncoming car carrying two male passengers. The woman’s car became engulfed in flames, and firefighters were dispatched to the scene.
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A former Middleboro High School teacher and boys soccer coach died in a car crash Saturday night.

James Braga was driving on Route 44 when his vehicle collided with another car just after 9:00 p.m. Officials pronounced Braga dead at the scene at 9:25 p.m., said Bridget N. Middleton, spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. State and local police are investigating the accident, Middleton said.

Selectman Alfred P. Rullo Jr., who has known Braga since high school, said the news hit him hard. “He was a good friend. I’m going to miss him a lot. This is a tough one. Middleboro lost one of their good guys that’s for sure.” Rullo spent Sunday with Braga’s family. He explained that they were too grief-stricken to speak with the media. “It’s a nightmare. They need some time,” he said.

It appears that one of the cars was traveling west on Route 44 when it crashed into another car that was heading south on Everett Street, but Middleton refused to specify which car Braga was operating.

Three ambulances and a medical helicopter responded to the crash, according to police scanner reports. An unidentified man was also hurt in the crash, Middleton said. Emergency responders brought him to a Boston-area hospital for treatment, and he was eventually released.

Braga left behind his wife Kerrie (Mosley) Braga, three sons, Jonathan, 29, James, 36, and Keith 41, and a sister, Gail, who is living in New York.

Funeral arrangements have not been made, but the service will likely take place in Middleboro, Selectman Rullo said.

Selectman Rullo said he and Braga became friends after high school. They were part of a foursome that took an annual golf vacation to New Hampshire. “He loved to play golf,” Rullo said. Braga was a few years behind Rullo in high school, and served in the U.S. Air Force.

Braga taught high school business and coached the boys soccer team, taking them to the championship, Rullo said. Braga lost his teaching position when the business program was cut. He then went on to have a career inspecting older, urban properties scheduled for rehabilitation with federal money, Rullo said.
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An Andover, MA man was killed and two others were seriously injured in a head-on collision on Route 125 in Wilmington.

Robert Leon, 47, of Andover, died after the 2013 Toyota Corolla he was operating crashed head-first into a 2004 Chevrolet K1500 SUV. The Corolla crossed the center line, narrowly missed another vehicle, and then crashed into the SUV. Officials are still investigating why Leon’s vehicle crossed the center line.

The collision took place at around 8:30 p.m. on a stretch of Route 125 close to the North Reading line.

Wilmington and Andover Fire Departments arrived at the accident site, and used the Jaws of Life to free Leon from his car. Officials pronounced him dead at the scene.

Massachusetts State Police have identified the occupants of the SUV, but are not releasing their names. Officials believe that the 43-year-old man and 12-year-old boy, both of Wilmington, are father and son. An ambulance brought them to Lawrence General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Troop A of the State Police is investigating the accident with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Photo, Wilmington and Andover Police Departments, and Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Route 125 was closed for about 2 ½ hours when investigators and cleanup crews were on the scene.
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On Sunday, March 3, 2013, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle as she was crossing Lansdowne Street in Boston, MA. The pedestrian, whose identity and current medical condition has not yet been released by the authorities, was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for treatment following the collision.

Boston Police Department Foot Patrolmen witnessed the accident. The Officers witnessed a Mercury Grand Marquis strike the pedestrian around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. According to a press release from the Boston Police Department, “[t]he vehicle did not attempt to stop after striking the victim.”

Following the hit-and-run accident, the Police released a broadcast which described the vehicle involved in the incident. Subsequently, the Boston Police stopped the suspect’s car on Boylston Street. The Police then identified the driver as 30 year old Everett W. Strauss of Peabody, Massachusetts.

Straus has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and possession of a Class D drug.
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A bus transporting members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team crashed north of Boston Tuesday night. The bus crossed the median of Interstate 95 and four northbound lanes before plowing into the woods, severely injuring the driver and causing minor injuries to many passengers.

Emergency responders freed the unidentified driver from, and transported him or her by MedFlight helicopter to Boston Medical Center. The team’s coach suffered facial lacerations. The players were more fortunate, sustaining what seemed to be less severe injuries.

University of Maine assistant coach and former WNBA recruiter Jhasmine Player described how the accident unfolded. “We hit the strip, and that is how we knew something was going on,” Player said. “From there, all I saw was lights. The only screams we heard were from our coaches who told us to get down and stay down.” “Our head coaches were able to tell us to get down and brace ourselves,” Player said.

Authorities said they are still trying to determine the cause of the accident at around 8:30 p.m., but their early stages of the investigation point to the driver having some kind of a medical incident, said State Police spokesman David Procopio. The driver was conscious when investigators interviewed him at Boston Medical Center, said Major Arthur Sugrue of the State Police early Wednesday. He suffered several broken bones, but not any fatal injuries, Sugrue said. Authorities are unlikely to charge the driver with any crimes, but troopers will verify whether his medical records were current, Sugrue said.

Sugrue said investigators will examine any footage they recover from the bus’ black box. He added that there was no evidence the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Around the country, anxious parents checked in with their children by phone to make sure they were ok. In Worcester, Leo Nalivaike said her daughter called briefly to report she was uninjured but being taken to the hospital for examination. “She’s shaken up and nerved up, and of course being parents — of course we’re also shaken up,” said Nalivaika. “This could’ve been worse. We’re just hoping for the best for the bus driver and the rest of the squad.”
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