Victims in horrific fatal crash identified as Easton man, 58, his son and son's girlfriend, both 17
Friday Posted Dec 30, 2016 at 7:36 PM Updated at 11:51 AM
Two sport utility vehicles collided head-on Friday night at a dangerous curve on Route 123 in Easton. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and another died overnight at a Boston hospital. By Cody Shepard
The Enterprise
EASTON, Mass. - Police have identified the three victims of horrific fatal crash Friday evening.
Two sport utility vehicles collided head-on Friday night at a dangerous curve on Route 123. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and another died overnight at a Boston hospital, all as a result of the injuries they sustained in the crash.
On Saturday morning Easton Police identified the victims as William R. Fleming, 58, of Easton, his son Robert W. Fleming, 17, also of Easton, and Kayleigh Desrosiers, 17, of Halifax.
Roberts Fleming was a student at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, as were three of his siblings who since graduated, and Desrosiers attended Silver Lake Regional High in Kingston.
Oliver Ames Principal Wes Paul sent a letter out Saturday to students, families and teachers Saturday which read in part:
"It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the sad news that one of our classmates, Robert Fleming, was killed in a car accident last night. I have spoken with Robert's mother expressing our collective condolences for her losses and offered our assistance... Robert is survived by his mother Deena, and siblings Joseph Gizzi OA Class of 2011, Kimberly Newman OA Class of 2012, and Amy Maliff OA Class of 2013."
Paul added that various forms of grief counseling will be available at the school Saturday until 3 p.m.
Police said a Chevrolet HHR crossed the center line and slammed into a Toyota Sequoia SUV shortly after 6 p.m. on Depot Street, Route 123, at an S-curve west of the Cross Street intersection.
The vehicles' front ends were completely caved in. One victim was injured, lying on the ground outside the car, another was unconscious inside and a nurse was performing CPR as witnesses looked on in horror.
The man driving the Chevrolet, William Fleming, and the female rear-seat passenger, Desrosiers, died at the scene, Fire Chief Kevin Partridge told The Enterprise.
A man in the back seat, Robert Fleming, was taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and flown to a Boston hospital with life-threatening injuries, Partridge said. He later died.
"Unfortunately, the third passenger succumbed to his injuries last night at the hospital," Police Chief Gary Sullivan told The Enterprise Saturday morning.
The driver of the black Toyota was taken by ambulance to a Brockton hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Partridge said. She was alone in the vehicle.
A family member identified the victims in the Chevrolet as her husband, her son and her son's girlfriend.T he family lives in South Easton, about a mile from the crash scene.
The first police officer and engine arrived simultaneously at the scene at 8:14 p.m. The officer found a nurse performing CPR on one of the victims and immediately requested more help for what he thought might be a fatal crash.
After the collision, the Chevrolet was over the center line in the westbound lane, facing east. The Sequoia appeared to have been driving west toward the Foundry Street intersection and was cleanly between the center yellow and right white travel lines.
Partridge said it appears initially that none of the three people inside the Chevy were wearing seat belts.
"It appears they were unrestrained," he told The Enterprise at the scene late Friday night. "As you can see, in that car there, the passenger compartment is pretty well intact. I can't stress enough, people need to wear their seat belts, that's what they're designed for."
Partridge said his firefighters did the best they could to treat the victims. They had to use hydraulic rescue tools to remove William Fleming from the Chevy, but he died at the scene.
"As you can imagine, it was a very hectic scene at first," Partridge said. "Just like everybody else, it's an emotional thing to deal with. They're (firefighters) trained to do their job, they do their job, but everyone's affected by it differently. We talk to the guys, see how everyone's doing, make sure everyone's doing OK. Over time, in your career, you have many of these. It's like an accumulative effect on you."
Investigators remained on scene for four hours. The cause of the crash is being investigated by Easton police and a state police accident reconstruction unit.
Wrong-way driver was drunk, high at time of fiery crash
Updated: 9:39 PM EST Dec 30, 2016
By Anna Burgess/Brockton Enterprise
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. —
The woman responsible for an October car crash that killed her and four others was drunk, high and speeding at the time of the crash, police have determined.
Fall River resident Valantein Burson was driving home from a party with a blood alcohol level of .16 and marijuana in her system when she sped down Route 495 the wrong way and crashed into a Mercury Sable, causing it to burst into flame.
The Oct. 24 crash, which occurred just after midnight on Route 495 in Middleboro, killed Burson, who was 31, and all four college students who had been in the Mercury, the Brockton Enterprise reported.
The students were later identified as 20-year-old Kraig Diggs, of Osterville; 19-year-old Jordan Galvin-Jutras, of Hyannis; 19-year-old Jordan Fisher, of Harwich; and 18-year-old Cory Licata, of New York.
Diggs and Galvin-Jutras had been students at Anna Maria College, while Fisher and Licata had been students at Becker College.
Burson was a Stoughton native and graduate of Stoughton High School.
According to a Friday press release from the office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, Burson's postmortem toxicology report showed she had a blood alcohol level of .16 and marijuana in her system.
Crash reconstruction showed Burson had been traveling about 90 miles per hour at the time of the crash, with her headlights off.
The State Police investigation revealed Burson had been at a party in New Bedford earlier in the night.
She was smoking and drinking at the party, witnesses told police.
Burson left the party alone, planning to meet someone at her Fall River apartment, but never arrived home.
A few minutes before the crash, witnesses reported seeing Burson make a three-point turn on the northbound side of the highway, driving south and hitting several cars before crashing head-on into the Mercury.
Reconstruction of the crash revealed that Burson's headlights were off at the time of the crash, and there were no tire marks or evidence of braking left by either vehicle prior to impact.
The speedometer of Burson's car was stuck at approximately 90 mph.
Massachusetts State Police concluded their investigation into the crash this week.
The crash was investigated by Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to Troop D in Middleboro, in conjunction with state police detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and State Police Crime Scene Services.
MEDFORD, N.J. (WPVI) -- One person is dead and at least three others are injured after a two-vehicle crash in South Jersey.
Chopper 6 was over Route 70 Friday, just east of Troth Road in Medford.
There, shortly after 6 p.m., police say a car and SUV collided, resulting in the closure of a short stretch of Route 70.
Five ambulances and a medical helicopter responded to the scene.
The injured victims were rushed to area hospitals for care.
Police have not identified the victims, or what caused the vehicles to collide.
The accident remains under investigation.
5-alarm fire tears through row of stores in Kew Gardens; 3 firefighters injured
By Josh Einiger
Updated 2 hrs 15 mins ago
KEW GARDENS, Queens (WABC) -- Three firefighters have been hurt while battling a five-alarm fire burning through a row of businesses in Kew Gardens, Queens.
The fire broke out just after 6:30 p.m. on Vleigh Place. At least 14 stores were affected.
Millions of gallons of water were no match for the relentless flames which consumed an entire block of businesses in a building that's withstood generations.
"Born and raised here, this was our whole life, and we just watched the whole block burn down," a resident said. "It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking."
Firefighters say they arrived within three minutes after the first flames in the first storefront, but it was already too late to save it and thirteen other businesses. They were all doomed to the fast spreading blaze.
"Once the fire gets into these concealed spaces up above the roof, it's almost impossible for us to put it out. We have to worry about the safety of our firefighters," said Chief of Department James Leonard, FDNY.
The response grew to a fifth alarm as firefighters attacked the inferno defensively, from the outside disappearing within a thick cloud of black, choking smoke.
At least three FDNY members were hurt, fortunately, none of them seriously, as the fire raged on.
"Here we are, it's a holiday weekend, and 14 people lose their business. Sometimes that's lost in the in the excitement of the fire, but 14 people. Think about all these business owners, people who work in these stores, and even the impact on the neighborhood, for all these people who shop in these stores, that's the real tragedy," Leonard said.
