Recently in Crashes Category

Police tell me 19-year-old Anthony Maimone, of Billerica, was taken to the hospital this afternoon after the Rav4 he was driving struck another vehicle and rolled onto its roof at Belmont and Summit streets in Belvedere this afternoon.

Three men who were in the Rav4 with him took off running.

Police were called to the intersection at 4:35 p.m. Witnesses said the other three men were wearing dark-colored T-shirts, and fled immediately.

A 41-year-old Westford woman told me she was slowly driving up Belmont Street with her 12-year-old daughter when the Rav4 sped out of Summit Street without stopping, clipping the driver's side front of her BMW and then rolled over onto its roof.

The woman and her daughter were not hurt.

Here's some video of a two company getting the Rav4 back on 4-wheels.

Oh and just in case you've ever wondered...

...this is what your mom's car will look like if you ever roll it over while driving in Lowell.

I've got to admit I've never seen one quite like this before.

A truck that slid out of control down a snow-covered Barasford Avenue this afternoon ended up hitting the corner of the garage of a home on East Merrimack Street.

There was the usual damage to the truck and the garage, but bizarrely, the impact also completely detached the entire garage from the home. It looked like the entire garage moved in one piece away from the house when it was struck.

Here is a more straight-on view so you can see just how much the garage pulled away from the home.

Maybe even more bizarre was how well both the driver and the homeowner handled the whole situation.

The driver, Paul Asikis, 31, of Dracut, said he was on his way home from work when he turned onto Barasford Avenue from Route 133 about 7 p.m., only going about 15 mph at the top of the hill.
Before long his F350 was sliding out of control, though, and gaining speed as it moved down hill.

Asikis kept his wits about him and managed to steer the truck into an embankment in an effort to stop, but he told me the truck just bounced right off.

As his truck approached East Merrimack Street, which meets Barasford in a T intersection, Asikis tried to hit a car in the driveway at 678 E. Merrimack St.

"I figured if I hit the car it would be better than the house," he told me.

He couldn't hit the car though. His truck slid past the car and into the left side of the garage.

Homeowner Mary Landry said "it sounded like the end of the world."

She too handled the situation extremely well. She said Asikis was very apologetic.

A building inspector checked everything out and determined there was no damage to the home's living quarters, but that the truck would have to remain in place overnight, since it appeared it was holding up the garage.

Here's a more close-up look at the damage.

Building inspectors will return Tuesday morning to inspect further and come up with a plan to get the truck out of there.

Police said alcohol was not involved, and that Asikis will not face charges.

I just got back from a pretty bad crash in Tyngsboro in which a pickup truck and a Mustang collided on Frost Road at Lakeview Avenue.

Radio broadcasts indicate the male driver of the Mustang was trapped in his car, unconscious but breathing when police arrived.

Firefighters had to cut the roof off the red Mustang to free him, and Patriot Ambulance took him to meet a MedFlight helicopter. No word on his destination or condition yet.

Radio broadcasts indicated two patients hurt. No word on condition or identity of the second injured party. Police couldn't comment at the scene, but said they would get me some information later tonight.

A state police reconstruction team was arriving at the scene as I was leaving.

It looks like slick roads contributed to a Cadillac Eldorado smashing into the front of Danas Fruit and Confectionery this afternoon, but there are no reports of serious injuries.

Owner Peter Danas, 75, told me he was standing at the counter with his son about 3 p.m., when they suddenly heard the car crash into the front window. Neither man ever saw it coming or heard anything beforehand.

The window and woodwork in the front of the lunch counter was smashed to pieces, but the support beam at the corner of the building appeared intact, and Danas seemed in good spirits.

He even told me a joke as we stood near the counter and discussed the accident.

No police report is filed yet, so I have no information on charges or who was driving the car or any of that sort of thing. Mr. Danas said it looked like a man in his mid-40's. He got out of the car on his own, but a passenger was taken to the hospital.

Danas' has been in business since 1914, when Peter Danas' father started the business. Peter Danas took over in 1981, when his father passed away.

He said he'll repair the damage as soon as possible and open back up again.

I've got a few things cooking here tonight so I'll just link to the lengthy breaking news I just filed on the cause of Sunday's fatal crash on Andover Street in Lowell.

Police have determined the 22-year-old driver was texting just as he crashed.

He died at Saints Medical Center.

Look for a lot more on this later. Lowell Police are calling for a law to make texting a primary violation -- one that officers can pull you over.

After reporting yesterday on a terrible crash on Andover Street in Lowell, I learned tonight about strikingly similar crash that claimed the life of a Billerica woman in Austin, Texas last week.

Kristen Corbett, 20, of Billerica, was killed when her car failed to negotiate a curve on a road in Austin just before midnight Wednesday night. She struck a tree.

Police say they believe she was speeding, and that she was not wearing her seatbelt.

Those are exactly the circumstances of Sunday's fatal crash in Lowell.

Corbett was even driving the same model of car as Stephen Clark, 22, of Tewksbury, who was killed in the Lowell crash - a Nissan Altima.

I talked to Kristen's father tonight and she sounds like she was quite a girl. I'll have a lot more about her in tomorrow's paper, and possibly a lengthy follow-up on Wednesday.

Those at Clark's home asked for privacy when another reporter reached them today.

Tewksbury Police are shutting down Main Street in front of Smitty's Liquors, 1091 Main St., as we speak because a vehicle just hit a utility pole and split it in half.

Reports are that the vehicle's occupants are out and walking around, so apparently no serious injuries, but it sounds like the pole is a mess and wires are down. Might want to avoid the area if you're heading that way for some weird reason at 10:45 p.m.

Reports now that there is a wire on the car, so they can't even more the car until National Grid shows up. Police say National Grid isn't expected on scene for about 20 minutes, so the road will probably be closed for a while.