Paul Bass Photo
Crews in Westville Village Sunday morning.
In one crash, a BMW driver failed to yield to the driver of a flatbed truck on Whalley Avenue.
In another, a BMW driver ran right into a private home.
In a third crash, a BMW driver sped up a hill in front a synagogue and lost control of the vehicle.
That’s what happened in three separate recent late-night car crashes in Westville this weekend . All involved BMW drivers allegedly at fault.
Two of the crashes occurred in the early hours after midnight this Sunday.
Around 12:45 a.m. Sunday, the driver of a BMW pulling out of New West Cafe’s lot on Whalley, in the heart of Westville Village, got in the path of a flatbed truck transporting a car. The flatbed’s driver, who had the right of way, swerved to try to avoid the BMW, according to top Westville cop Sgt. Renee Dominguez. He didn’t succeed; he smashed into the BMW, then smashed into a utility pole across the street, snapping it in half.
The BMW was so wrecked that rescue workers couldn’t open the doors. The fire department had to extricate the driver, who went to the hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries,” Dominguez said.
As a result of the crash, several buildings in Westville Village lost power until late into Sunday morning, and cops closed part of Whalley off to traffic. Brunch plans were affected. (See an earlier version of this story below.)
Also in the pre-sunrise hours Sunday, the driver of a green BMW lost control of his vehicle on Cleveland Road, a residential street where neighbors have been calling for traffic-calming measures. The car hit a house.
The driver fled the scene on foot and “left his two injured passengers in the car,” reported police spokesman Officer David Hartman. One of those passengers is three months pregnant. The two passengers were treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The city’s building official, Jim Turcio, was called to the scene. He concluded that the home’s occupant was safe to remain inside.
On Saturday a week earlier, a man was driving fast while heading home around 2 a.m. with four buddies when he slammed his BMW into a utility pole on Whalley Avenue up the hill from Westville Village in front of the Beth El Keser Synagogue, according to Lt. Rob Criscuolo, who heads the police department’s crash investigation team.
Criscuolo said the driver had been speeding. The group had been out downtown. All five occupants of that car had to go to the hospital. Two remain there more than a week later with serious injuries, Criscuolo said.
He said an investigation continues, at the conclusion of which police will decide whether to bring charges against the driver.
In police incidents not involving vehicles this weekend, a 28-year-old man was shot outside Cody’s Diner on Water Street Saturday at 2:25 a.m. (Details here.)
A 59-year-old New Haven man said he was stabbed in the forearm and hand while trying to stave off and grab a knife from two muggers Sunday at 7 p.m. by Orchard and Day streets, according to Officer Hartman. The muggers made off with $160. And around 8 p.m. Sunday, a 20-year-old man was shot in both legs and a 17-year-old was shot in one thigh near a bus stop at the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Bassett Street. Two shooters are seen on video surveillance footage shooting and then fleeing the scene. Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to phone detectives at (203) 946‑6304.
An earlier version of this story follows:
Crash Shuts Westville Center
Paul Bass Photo
Crews in Westville Village Sunday morning.
An overnight car crash shut down the center of Westville Village to traffic Sunday.
Lt. Makiem Miller said he and other cops were called in at 3 a.m. to shut off access to Whalley Avenue between the juncture of Fountain and Blake, after a driver hit a utility pole so hard that it cracked in half.
Buses and cars traveling along Whalley were detoured around Fountain.
Disappointed brunchers.
Around 10:45 a.m., a popular brunch time in Village, customers were disappointed to find Bella’s Cafe closed. Lena’s, another popular spot a block away, had its electricity, and was full.
A United Illuminating worker on scene said power had been restored by 10:45 a.m. to all but one building, which houses Westville Apizza, among other businesses. Comcast and Frontier cable crews were also on scene.
Details about the crash were not available Sunday morning. City Building Official Jim Turcio reported that another driver crashed into a home overnight on Westville’s Cleveland Road.