Man fleeing police dies in Hampden crash.

Date: 08/22/2011
Time: Around 3:30 P.M.
Location: Hampden, Maine
Vehicle(s) Involved: Jeep Grand Cherokee

By Dawn Gagnon, BDN Staff

"HAMPDEN, Maine — A driver fleeing police died after crashing into a tree on Route 1A on Monday afternoon, according to a public safety official.
The man, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, according to Joe Rogers, Hampden Public Safety director.
Rogers said the green Jeep the man was driving was registered to a Belfast resident. Hampden police still were attempting to notify family members Monday evening.
The Jeep, which had been traveling erratically on Interstate 95 and Interstate 395, reportedly reached an estimated speed of 100 mph by the time it crashed along the section of Route 1A known as Main Road North in Hampden, Rogers said.
Just before the crash, the man sideswiped a Subaru Forester driven by a Hampden woman and took out a section of fence at Riverview Cemetery, Rogers said.
Lorraine Frawley, 62, was not injured in the crash, though her SUV had extensive damage along the entire length of the driver’s side, including a ripped-off back wheel.
“I didn’t even see him coming,” said Frawley, whose driveway is directly across the road from the spot where her vehicle was hit.
Frawley said she had just waved to neighbors and was waiting for an oncoming car to get by when the Jeep came up from behind, sideswiped her Subaru, shot ahead and then crashed.
“The police said that if I had made my turn I’d be dead,” Frawley said. Though she was calm and steady while waiting for her Subaru to be removed from the roadway, she said that she was shaken after the accident.
Frawley, who was wearing a seat belt when the crash happened, credited her vehicle’s side air bags for preventing her from being injured. She said she didn’t want to buy that particular vehicle at the time but now she is glad that she did.
The series of events that led to the deadly crash began shortly before 3:30 p.m., when the Bangor Police Department received information from Maine State Police that a vehicle traveling south from the Old Town area on Interstate 95 was operating erratically.
A vehicle matching the description given by state police was spotted on I-395 in Bangor shortly afterward by Bangor police Officer George Spencer, Bangor Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said in a news release issued early Monday evening.
The vehicle took an exit onto Perry Road, where Spencer tried to pull it over, Arno said.
The driver allegedly refused to stop and traveled from Perry Road onto Main Street toward Hampden at a high rate of speed, eventually crashing into a tree.
The accident remains under investigation by the Hampden Police Department. It is being reconstructed by Officer Christopher Watson of the Orono Police Department, who was being assisted Monday by Officer Jim Dearing and Officer Steve Jordan of the Bangor Police Department."

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Three injured in Monday morning crash near Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park.

Date: 08/08/2011
Time: Around 11:00 A.M.
Location: Dalton Township, Michigan
Vehicle(s) Involved: Chevy Cobalt, Dodge Dakota

Jerry W. Morlock | Muskegon Chronicle 
 The Muskegon Chronicle
"A crash at the intersection of Russell and Riley-Thompson roads in Muskegon County's Dalton Township shortly after 11 a.m. Monday sent three people to Mercy General Health Partners' Hackley Campus, police said.

The extent of the three crash victims' injuries was not immediately available.

Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler said the crash occurred when a young Detroit-area man driving a Chevy Impala north on Russell turned left on Riley-Thompson, into the path of a southbound Dodge Dakota pickup truck driven by a Muskegon-area woman.

The Muskegon-area woman was alone in her vehicle. The Detroit-area man had a young female passenger, also from the Detroit area, in the vehicle with him. All three were transported to the hospital, Roesler said.

The crash tied up traffic — presumably much of it headed for Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park, which is two miles west of the accident scene. The amusement park opens at 11 a.m.

Police blocked off traffic headed north on Russell. Vehicles exiting U.S. 31 and headed north were diverted to another route.

The intersection of Russell and Riley-Thompson is marked with a full stoplight.

Roesler said authorities this morning were trying to locate witnesses to the accident. They thought that someone, possibly a doctor or nurse, had stopped to check on the crash victims, then left as emergency medical personnel arrived. Roesler said authorities would like to talk to that person, or any other people who may have seen the crash.

Anyone with information is asked to call Deputy Kendall Jeppesen at 724-7114."

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Jeep strikes pedestrian, then crashes into Northeast Portland mattress store.

Date: 08/10/2011
Time: Afternoon
Location: Portland, Oregon
Vehicle(s) Involved: Jeep Grand Cherokee

By Helen Jung, The Oregonian   

"Jason Jancosek was crossing NE Sandy Boulevard Wednesday afternoon at a green light when he noticed a Jeep Grand Cherokee turning onto Sandy and heading towards him.

Directly towards him.

Jancosek yelled out as the vehicle came closer, said the 32-year-old Northeast Portland resident.

But instead of hitting the brakes, the driver must have hit the gas, he said. Jancosek jumped forward as the vehicle's front driver-side corner hit his hand, which was extended "Heisman-trophy" style, he said. The impact scraped the skin off part of his palm.

The SUV swerved, police said, then crashed into a bus stop and through the floor-to-ceiling window of a mattress store at NE 24th and NE Sandy where it struck a wall and demolished several mattresses inside.

"I keep replaying it in my head," said Jancosek. "If I even hesitated, I would have been smacked straight on."

Four employees -- the husband-and-wife owners and two others -- were towards the back of The Mattress Lot store, said owner Michael Hanna, when they heard "a loud noise, almost like an explosion. And this car came racing through the entire store."

No one was injured, he said, although damages will total in the "thousands and thousands of dollars," he said.

Police cited the driver, 66-year-old Carolyn George, for failing to stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian.

Jancosek, who declined medical assistance, treated his hand at home and said he expects he'll be hurting tomorrow. A couple hours later, he was still trying to absorb what happened. "I'm a big guy," he said. "I'm not sure how she didn't see me."

-- Helen Jung"

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Two Injured In Friday Night Crash On Highway 97.

Date: 08/12/2011
Time: Around 9:00 P.M.
Location: Near Walnut Hill, Florida
Vehicle(s) Involved: Ford F-150, Chevy Astro, Ford Windstar

By NorthEscambia.com News

"Two people were injured in a three vehicle crash on Highway 97 south of Tungoil Road Friday night.
According to witnesses, an elderly male driving a van apparently collided with a pickup and another van just after 9 p.m. He was not injured.
The pickup flipped at least once, hitting a tree and landing off roadway. A female passenger in the pickup was transported by ambulance to West Florida Hospital in Pensacola. The driver of the pickup was not injured.
The driver of the second van was transported by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital. None of the injuries were believed to be life threatening.
Further details were not available Friday night; the accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the call."

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Car catches on fire with man below it outside West Side Bar in Grand Rapids.

Date: 08/26/2011
Time: Around 4 P.M.
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Vehicle(s) Involved: Plymouth Voyager

By Ursula Zerilli | The Grand Rapids Press  

"GRAND RAPIDS – What seemed like a good investment almost cost a Grand Rapids man his life. Less than an hour after buying an old car, it went up in flames with him underneath it around 4 p.m. on Friday.
Joe Bowen, 46, purchased a $400 Plymouth Voyager mini-van on Turner Street on Friday with hopes of fixing and reselling it.
About 15 minutes after he bought the van, he said it began to stall.
He pulled into the parking lot of the closed West Side Bar on the corner of Broadway Avenue NW and Richmond Street NW and parked inches away from the building so he could look at the car in the shade.
“I noticed gas leaking so I grabbed near the fuel tank while it was running and it must have sparked it,” said Bowen. “I rolled out from underneath it when it went on fire. I'm all singed.”
Less than an hour later, the car was burnt to its frame. The outside wall of the bar next to the van was damaged but firefighters were able to smother the fire before it could grow inside the building.
No one was inside of the West Side Bar because it closed in January. Despite it being closed, owner Randy Tann said there has been a lot of commotion there anyway.
On Thursday, it had been the site of a burglary for the third time in 14 years. There wasn't much to steal but the burglars damaged the windows.
“It must have been a coincidence or something and (Bowen) is being very open about fixing the damage,” said Tann, 61. “He's a West Sider and West Siders are usually open and honest about things.”
Tann and his wife, Chris, have been trying to sell the bar since it closed.
Grand Rapids Fire Lt. Joe Donohoe said his crew on Engine No. 3 cleared the fire within five minutes and declared an undetermined mechanical error the cause.
No one was injured in the incident."

Source



The Grand Rapids Press

North Logan man dies after rolling vehicle near Clarkston.

Date: 08/30/2011
Time: 5:15 P.M.
Location: Clarkston, Utah
Vehicle(s) Involved: Jeep Cherokee

By Cache Valley Daily

"A 45-year-old North Logan man died after rolling his 1998 Jeep Cherokee near Clarkston at approximately 5:20 p.m. Tuesday. The driver, identified as Michael S. Winn, was not wearing a seat belt and was alone in the vehicle.

According to the Utah Highway Patrol, Winn was traveling too fast when he took a turn on State Route 142 around 5:20 p.m. The Jeep was headed northbound and drifted across the center line to the left, exited the road and overturned. The vehicle rolled several times and Winn was ejected from it, said Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Johnson.

Winn was transported to Cache Valley Specialty Hospital where he was later pronounced dead."

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