WESTFIELD – A state trooper and a city resident each sustained injuries Sunday which sent them to hospital following an early morning vehicular crash but both were treated and released.
Westfield firefighters were summoned to the intersection of North Road and East Mountain Road at 12:32 a.m. in response to a two car crash reported to the city’s emergency dispatch center. The dispatcher reported that the caller had said that the accident involved a State Police cruiser and appeared to be “serious”. The caller said that serious injuries were possible.
An ambulance and an engine were dispatched from the north side fire sub-station on Southampton Road and, at the same time, an ambulance was also dispatched from the Broad Street fire headquarters.
Simultaneously, officers Ricky Maciorowski, Megan Bartlett and Jason Grunwald were sent to the scene of the crash.
David Procopio, a State Police spokesperson, reports that Trooper Daniel E. Moran reported to the Russell State Police barracks dispatcher at 12:33 a.m. that his cruiser had been involved in a crash.
The responding firefighters report that the operators of both vehicles suffered injuries.
Moran and the other operator, Tia L. Grover, 18, of 29 Elizabeth Ave., were transported by the two ambulances which had been dispatched to Baystate Medical Center where both were found to have escaped serious injury.
Maciorowski reports that State Police assumed jurisdiction of the crash and Procopio said the Moran reported that he had been southbound on Route 202 as he approached the intersection near the entrance to the Hampton Beach State Park office buildings as a vehicle, subsequently identified as a 2003 Buick Century operated by Grover, was approaching from the left.
At that hour, the intersection is controlled by a flashing traffic signal which shows a flashing red light for traffic on North Road and a flashing amber light for traffic on East Mountain Road.
Officer Michael Gamache of the Westfield Police Department Traffic Bureau reports that accidents at the intersection are not uncommon. He said that there have been three other accidents at the intersection so far this year with a total of 15 crashes there in the past four years.
Procopio said that as Moran’s cruiser was transiting the intersection Grover’s sedan also entered the intersection and the two vehicles collided.
Grover’s vehicle came to rest on the side of the road while the cruiser struck a utility pole.
Both vehicles suffered extensive damage and were towed from the scene of the crash.
Procopio said that Grover was not interviewed before she was taken to hospital but said later that she had been en route to visit a friend and does not remember how the accident happened.
He said that Grover will be cited for failure to yield and for a seat belt infraction.
In addition, Procopio said, investigators found fast food wrappers and a partially consumed meal in her vehicle leading them to conclude that she had been eating at the time of the crash. She will also be cited for impeded operation of a motor vehicle.
