DARTMOUTH, Mass. (AP/WPRI) — One person is dead and several others have serious injuries after a truck hit a utility pole in Dartmouth.
According to police, officers responded to Old River Road around 10:45 p.m. Sunday for a report of a crash.
“It had taken down a telephone pole and come to rest against another pole,” said Det. Kyle Costa of the Dartmouth Police Department. “We had a total of three males, ranging from 20 to 18, and two females.”
The vehicle’s driver, 20-year-old Gage Dyson, of East Providence, and three passengers were taken to Rhode Island Hospital with serious injuries. A 17-year-old passenger was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, police said.
One passenger, 20-year-old Travis Rainville, also of East Providence, died from his injuries.
Costa said investigators are looking into whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
Donna Furtado lives several houses down from the scene of the crash. She said the area can be tough to navigate, especially at night.
“If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a lot of curves and bends and stuff,” she said. “And at night it’s very dark and there’s no lights so it’s very easy to go and lose control over here.”
Police said the driver might not have been familiar with the road.
“That may be the case that they weren’t familiar with the area being from Rhode Island,” Costa said. “You always have to be familiar with your surroundings.”
Police said none of the people in the vehicle were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
According to Costa, the other males and females in the car with Rainville received serious but non-life threatening injuries.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
