Passenger Killed When Sedan Flips in Lenox Downtown

LENOX, Mass. — An elderly woman from the state of Florida was killed Wednesday afternoon after the car she was riding in collided three other vehicles, traveled through the Walker and Main street intersection and flipped over to land on the lawn of Adams Community Bank.

Nancy Goessel, 88, of Naples, Fla., was extricated using a Jaws of Life and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center  in Pittsfield, where she was pronounced dead at 4:29 p.m.

Senior Officer Timothy Sheehan and Officers Jacob Stringer and William Colvin were awaiting shift change at the Lenox Police Station at 2:13 on Wednesday afternoon when they were alerted to a loud crash at the intersection of Walker Street (Route 183) and Main Street at the Paterson-Egleston Monument.

According to police, a preliminary investigation has revealed that a 2011 Jaguar 4D sedan, operated by 88-year-old William Goessel of Naples, was westbound on Walker Street and swerved into an eastbound Ford Explorer, operated by Robert Rodgers of Monterey.  

Goessel then sideswiped an occupied, but parked 2012 Volkswagen Jetta and continued westbound on Walker Street in the eastbound lane while accelerating.

The Jaguar travelled over the curb and lawn at the Revolutionary War obelisk and onto the north side of the monument with such force that it was propelled into the air at some points.  The Jaguar, while airborne, then collided with a 2016 Volkswagen Jetta operated by Jorja Flaherty of Pittsfield that was carrying an infant passenger properly secured in a carseat in the rear seat.

The Jaguar landed near the sidewalk at Adams Community Bank, flipped and landed on its roof on the bank's lawn. William and Nancy Goessel were the only passengers in the Jaguar. William Goessel, Flaherty, and the infant were also transported to Berkshire Medical Center.  All victims were transported by three ambulances from the County Ambulance service.

The Lenox Police were assisted by the Lenox Fire Department, the Lee and Stockbridge police departments, state police from the Lee barracks, the State Police Crime Scene Services and Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and several witnesses and bystanders who were at the scene.   

This case remains under investigation and, currently, there are no criminal charges.

Multiple Berkshire County Schools Subject Of Bomb Threat

Pittsfield Pedestrian Killed on Route 7

LENOX, Mass. — A 46-year-old Pittsfield woman was killed shortly after midnight on Sunday when she was struck by a car on the Pittsfield Lenox Road.

According to Lenox Police, Stacy A. Macfarlane-Holmes was crossing the Pittsfield Road (Route 7) near the Price Chopper plaza on foot at about 12:39 a.m. when she was hit by a southbound 1998 Volkswagen New Beetle driven by Firas M. Kara of Lee.

Macfarlane-Holmes was in the southbound lane when the accident occurred but her direction of travel has yet to be determined. She was transported to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield where she was pronounced dead.

The state police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section is in the process of reconstructing the crash. Kara states that he never saw Macfarlane-Holmes in the roadway. This area of the Pittsfield Road is somewhat poorly lit and it was raining at the time of the collision.

Officers Ward and Lagarce responded to the scene. They were assisted by state police from the Lee barracks, the Pittsfield Police Department, the Lenox Ambulance and the Pittsfield Fire Department. 

This incident remains under investigation. Anyone who may have witnessed this is urged to contact the Lenox Police at 413-637-2346. Officer Ward is the investigating officer. 

Lenox Police Go High Tech to Search for Missing

LENOX, Mass. — Police Chief Stephen E. O'Brien has formalized an agreement with the A Child Is Missing Alert Program that has led to a high-tech method now in place to search locally for missing children, missing elderly (often with Alzheimer's), college students and missing persons who may be mentally or physically challenged or disabled.

Upon receipt of a missing person call, the Police Department will make one of its first phone calls to a toll-free number that rings in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at the national headquarters of the A Child Is Missing Alert Program. 

The call, answered 24 hours every day by an information and mapping technician, initiates a rapid process of information gathering and use of sophisticated mapping systems. A Child Is Missing then launches potentially thousands of calls within minutes with an alert message detailing the missing person's description, last known whereabouts, and pertinent information. This alert message will also include a Lenox Police Department phone number for use by anyone with information relating to the missing person.

This program is a free service to law enforcement. Police officials will evaluate each potential activation of the A Child Is Missing Alert Program to ensure the application is appropriate to the case and that the system is optimally used. Policies, procedures, and employee training will also guide the most efficient and effective use of this alert program.      

Phone numbers that are called by this program include listed numbers and mobile numbers available to ACIM in the selected area. Mobile numbers, unlisted numbers, broadband/voice-over IP numbers, or TDD/TTY devices can be added to ensure they, too, are called in the event of an alert.

To enter your cell phone, unlisted or other device number visit www.achildismissing.org and click on "add your name" to enter your name, number and address. This information will only be used for emergency message alerts.  

A Child Is Missing is a nationwide nonprofit organization that helps law enforcement agencies locate missing children and others. It utilizes sophisticated computer mapping systems and trained technicians with the capacity to place 1,000 alert phone calls in one minute to residents and businesses in the area where someone has gone missing. To date, the efforts of A Child Is Missing have been credited with more than 890 safe, assisted recoveries.

Lenox Ambulance in Head-on Crash

LENOX, Mass. — The town's ambulance is out of commission after it was involved in a head-on crash Thursday morning while transporting a patient to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield.

Police Chief Stephen E. O'Brien said Lenox Ambulance was dispatched at 5:11 a.m. on Thursday to Curtis Housing on Main Street for a woman with abdominal pain. By 5:25, the firefighter emergency medical technicians Jason Saunders and Daniel Pirettihad had her on the way to Pittsfield. 

Saunders, who was driving the ambulance, reported six minutes later that it had been involved in a head-on motor vehicle crash on Main Street near the entrance to the Church on the Hill. 

Police said Matthew Bak, 20, of Cheshire, was operating a 1997 Chevy pickup GMT 400 southbound on Main Street when he fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the center line, and collided with the 2008 Ford E450 Type III ambulance.

Saunders requested aid from the Fire Department, two other ambulances and Lenox Police. 

The EMTs on the ambulance began caring for the other patients involved and, once more firefighters arrived, a third ambulance was requested for the personnel involved in the crash.

Saunders, 36, and Piretti, 27, who was caring for the patient in the back of the ambulance, were both treated at BMC for minor injuries and released after being transported by County Ambulance. The 83-year-old patient was taken to BMC with neck and back pain via another County Ambulance.

Bak complained of neck and back pain and was transported to BMC by Lee Ambulance.   

The crash remains under investigation and both criminal and civil charges are pending. There was extensive damage to both involved vehicles, which were towed away.

Although the town will be without an ambulance, Fire Chief Daniel W. Clifford said the Lenox Fire Department will continue to provide emergency medical services and will rely on mutual aid ambulance services for transport until a more permanent solution for a replacement ambulance becomes available.