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Police Investigating Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash in Sheffield
SHEFFIELD, Mass. — A Mount Everett Regional School graduate died as a result of injuries sustained in a single-car motor vehicle crash late Thursday night.
According to a release from the Berkshire district attorney's office, Jesus A. Santos, 19, of Lakeville, Conn., lost control of the motor vehicle he was driving on Berkshire School Road at about 11:32 p.m. Thursday.
Santos was alone in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
The accident occurred about a mile from where a Sheffield Police officer attempted, unsuccessfully, to execute a stop for a motor vehicle violation of the vehicle that Santos was operating. His body was transported from the scene to the Holyoke office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
In an email on Friday afternoon to the Southern Berkshire Regional School District community, Superintendent Beth Regulbuto, wrote that "it is with a heavy heart that I am writing to the SBRSD School Community to let you know that a former graduate was killed last evening in a car accident near the school on Berkshire School Road."
Regulbuto said she received notification of the fatality on Friday morning and that the district's crisis team met first thing in the morning and held a follow-up meeting in the afternoon.
"Please know that there are and will continue to be supports in place that are accessible for any faculty member, staff member, or student that may need to access them," she said. "Our thoughts are with his family at this incredibly difficult time."
The accident remains under investigation by members of the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Berkshire district attorney's office, the state police's Collision Analysis and Reconstruction and Crime Scene Services sections, troopers from the Lee barracks and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
2 Pedestrians Struck on Ashland Street
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| Ashland Street was closed for about a half-hour on Friday morning after two women were struck by a small pickup. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two women were struck by a small pickup truck while crossing Ashland Street late Friday morning.
Sgt. Albert Zoito said the two women were crossing the road between Quincy and Summer streets when they were hit by a gray southbound Toyota Tacoma with a Vermont plate at about 11:40 a.m.
"The condition of one is serious but not believed to be life-threatening at this time," he said. "The other is not life-threatening."
Both women, one with what Zoito described as a serious head injury, were taken from the scene by ambulance. Neither the pedestrians nor the driver of the pickup have yet been identified and, so far, no one has been cited in the accident. There are crosswalks at Quincy and Summer but not where the women were walking.
"Two people were hit by a vehicle while attempting to cross," Zoito said. "It is under investigation."
The Fire Department also responded and traffic was detoured for about a half-hour.
24-year-old Man Dies In Florida Snowmobiling Accident
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FLORIDA, Mass. — A 24-year-old man died in a snowmobiling accident Saturday evening.
The District Attorney's Office said Camron Howland lost control of the vehicle just before 7 p.m. Saturday evening and struck a tree on Monroe Road in Florida.
The circumstances surrounding the accident are still under investigation.
State Police Cheshire Barracks, Massachusetts State Police Berkshire Detective Unit, Florida Fire Department and EMS, North Adams Police Department, State Police Crime Scene Services, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner responded and are investigating the incident.
Sweet Brook Farm Barn, Sugar House Destroyed in Fire
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — After a day spent battling downed wires and tree limbs as a result of Monday's high winds, emergency officials spent Monday evening battling a fire that broke out at Sweet Brook Farm.
The farm, located at 580 Oblong Road in South Williamstown, grows vegetables, produces maple syrup and breeds stock and fiber-quality alpacas. It is owned and operated by the Phelps family.
Firefighters from Williamstown, North Adams, Hancock, New Ashford and Pownal, Vt., responded to the fire, which broke out between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Clarksburg also sent a tanker. Stamford, Vt., covered the Williamstown station during the blaze.
No one was injured in the blaze, which totaled the farm's barn and sugar house. Officials on the scene were concerned that the high winds would blow the fire into the farm's residence, about 50 feet away from the barn, so they doused the home, successfully preventing it from igniting.
Williamstown Fire Chief Craig Pedercini reports that to his knowledge all the animals in the structure escaped. Sweet Brook Farm posted on its Facebook page that the animals are all OK, as well.
Suspected Pittsfield Arsonist Arraigned
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A man accused of setting fires in four places in September was arraigned in Berkshire Superior Court on Tuesday.
Phillip Jordan is facing four counts of burning a dwelling house. He was ordered by Judge John Agostini to be held without bail. Jordan is being represented by Attorney Rinaldo Del Gallo.
The charges originated from fires allegedly intentionally set on September 22, 2018. That evening there were four fires started - the largest at Jordan's home on Appleton Avenue. The other firsts were reported on Fort Hill Avenue, Ridge Avenue, and then on Brown Street.
No one was injured in any of the blazes. Police later identified Jordan as a suspect but he had fled the area. He was arrested at the Canadian border by U.S. Customers and Border Patrol agents at the Highgate Port of Entry in Vermont two days later without incident.
Jordan was charged in Vermont on a fugitive from justice charge and was later extradited back to Massachusetts. The 59-year old is now being held pending a dangerousness hearing.
