WESTFIELD – A Westfield State University student was arrested and a West Springfield man was taken to hospital after a vehicle operated by a person sending a text message ended up on its side in the middle of King Street Friday evening.
A caller reported at 9:59 p.m. Friday that a vehicle was on its side on King Street and said that nobody was trapped and nobody appeared to have been injured.
Officer Stephen Gonglik responded to the crash and found, contrary to the initial report, a male party lying on the tree belt who said that he was suffering severe abdominal pain after he had been ejected from the vehicle, a 2003 Jeep Wrangler. The injured man, who had been seated in the rear of the vehicle, said that he had not been restrained by a seat belt.
The injured man was transported by Westfield Fire Department ambulance to Baystate Medical Center where no information was available.
Gonglik reports that another young man, later identified as Tristan S. Fenton, 21, of 644 Armory St., Springfield, said he was not injured and said that he had been operating the vehicle prior to the crash.
Fenton told Gonglik that he and his two passengers had been returning from a WSU rugby tournament when the crash occurred.
Gonglik reports that Fenton said “I was texting behind the wheel and the next thing I remember the Jeep was on its side.”
Gonglik noted an odor of alcohol about Fenton who denied drinking alcohol. But, when asked to breath toward the officer from a distance of about a foot, Gonglik reports he noted a distinct odor of alcohol.
He said that when he illuminated Fenton’s face he saw that the man appeared to have been crying and his eyes were red and glossy.
Gonglik details how Fenton attempted a variety of field sobriety tests.
He reports that, although Fenton said that he is a WSU junior, he was unable to recite the alphabet without singing it and failed other sobriety tests despite repeated efforts to perform them correctly.
Fenton was arrested for operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation.
He was released on bail from the police station and will be arraigned Tuesday at Westfield District Court.
