WESTFIELD – A 21-year-old Chicopee resident died Sunday night after his vehicle glanced off another vehicle and then struck a tree on the north shoulder of North Road (Route 202).
Westfield Police identified the victim of the 8:48 p.m. accident as Emmanuel Almonte. Two passengers in Almonte’s vehicle were transported to area hospitals. One victim was taken to the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and the other to Noble Hospital.
Westfield, Holyoke, and state police responded to the accident scene. The Westfield Fire Department dispatched three ambulances, and engine and the rescue truck to assist with extricating victims of the accident and with transport to the hospitals.
The 8:48 p.m. accident is being investigated by the Westfield Police Department Traffic Bureau and the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Team.
The Holyoke Police Department also dispatched an officer to detour traffic at the intersection of North Road with East Mountain and Old County roads while North Road was closed during the rescue effort. A Westfield Auxiliary Police Officer was dispatched to close North Road at Old Stage Road.
Westfield Police report that Almonte, who was driving a 2008 Infinity, was traveling eastbound behind several friends’ vehicles, returning from a social gathering in Huntington, when the line of vehicles slowed because the front vehicle, a 2000 Nissan operated by Alison R. Crawford, was attempting to make a left turn onto Jaeger Drive.
Almonte was passing the line of traffic when his vehicle struck the vehicle turning onto Jaeger Drive. Almonte’s vehicle ricocheted off the turning vehicle and slammed into a tree, causing significant damage to Almonte’s vehicle.
Almonte, of 180 Chapel St., Chicopee, was declared dead by the medical examiner at the scene. A passenger in his vehicle, Fabian Almonte, was transported to the Baystate Medical Center.
The operator of the vehicle turning onto Jaeger Drive, Crawford, and the passenger in her vehicle, Jacob R. Collins, were both taken to Noble Hospital for treatment.
Westfield Police Captain Michael McCabe said that investigators have determined “that speed was a factor in the accident.”
The accident remains under investigation. McCabe said that additional information will be released as it becomes available.
The Hampden Medical Examiner was also called to the scene to and the District Attorney’s Office notified of the fatality.
Both vehicles were towed from the scene.
