David Sepulveda Photo
Police, fire and rescue personal had a busy morning as they responded to a predawn double crash at a stretch of roadway on Yale Avenue in Westville — at a strip that has been plagued by serious accidents.
The loud crash, heard just before 5 a.m., drew out many neighbors onto the street. Police arrived within scant minutes of the accident.
A single victim was pulled from the single car wreckage at Yale Avenue near the intersection of West Rock Avenue.
A single male lay along side a Toyota vehicle that had left the roadway at a severe curve, entering Edgewood Park before stopping. Amid the web of felled trees and branches, police searched for other victims and clues to the accident. Emergency responders loaded the unresponsive victim into an ambulance as police secured the area.
Fire units inspect vehicle.
Meanwhile further up the same road, police searched for accident victims at the site of an overturned SUV that had come to rest on its back in the center of the road. It appeared that occupants had fled the scene.
A canine unit was brought in to search for victims and clues of the accident.
A canine unit was brought in to continue the search. The investigation is ongoing, and police are looking at the possibility of a connection between the simultaneous accidents that occurred just several tenths of a mile apart.
Later Thursday morning, the police department’s team was on the scene.
Paul Bass Photos
Lt. Kenny Howell (pictured) offered an update. He said police responded to a call at around 4:50 a.m.
They found the first vehicle, an unoccupied Cherokee Sport, upside down and smashed, a bit up the road from Edgewood School.
Then they found the other vehicle, a Toyota Camry, in the woods a few hundred feet up the road, around the bend toward Forest.
They found the male teen on the ground beside the Camry, unconscious, with a severe head injury. He’s in critical condition. Everyone else involved had fled.
Thursday morning the owner of the Sport called to report it stolen. As investigators worked the scene, debris lay scattered on the roadway from the vehicle: CDs, one of them entitled “Big Blue Ball” …
…a cross necklace …
… a hand exerciser.
Howell said police received “reports” that the drivers of the cars might have been drag racing. But it was too early to make a determination for sure.
The search continued into the woods in the predawn hours Thursday.
Vehicular fluids are covered by emergency responders.
Click here and here for stories about previous crashes in that same vicinity. Yale Avenue is a speedway as it curves around the park west toward Forest Road.
Victim is prepared for transport to a nearby hospital
Click on the play arrow to watch a rescue at an accident last December a block away.
Paul Bass contributed to this report.