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.