A speeding motorist — whom witnesses later said they later heard proclaiming being “drunk as fuck” — crashed into a parked car, a stop sign, then a front porch, then was released at the scene by the police without charge.
The crashes took place near and at the corner of Central Avenue and West Elm Street Wednesday at 11:58 p.m.
Home surveillance footage captured a 2004 Honda Accord zooming southbound on Central when it smashed into an unoccupied parked 2018 Honda CRV (pictured at right).
The Accord spun out of control. It proceeded to topple a stop sign several properties south at the corner of Central and West Elm. Then it smashed into the front porch steps of a house on the other side of West Elm, where it stopped, spun around facing north.
Neighbors poured out onto the street. (This reporter, who lives down the block, was among them.) Several neighbors said they then heard the driver calling out, repeatedly, “I’m drunk as fuck!”
An ambulance crew arrived, as did firefighters and police. An AMR crew brought out a stretcher. The crew checked out the driver, who declined medical attention, and the stretcher was subsequently returned to the ambulance.
Several neighbors spoke with police and provided a look at surveillance footage.
The driver had previously been the victim of a well-documented instance of police violence. (The Independent is withholding the driver’s name.)
Officer Annastassia Scott, who responded to the scene, later filed an incident report, which the Independent obtained.
Officer Scott wrote that the driver reported seeing “something in the road way” while traveling on Central and “swerved to avoid hitting the unknown object.” Then the driver “side swiped” the parked Honda, which caused the driver’s vehicle “to spin out of control,” the report stated.
The driver stated being “uninjured and declined medical [attention] on scene,” Officer Scott reported. Scott added that the driver “appeared unstable.” The driver reported feeling “in shock and a bit traumatized by police [presence] based on [past] incidents.”
Scott’s report acknowledged that surveillance footage of the crash captured the driver’s Accord “traveling at what appeared to be a high rate of speed. However based on the footage alone I am unable to determine the vehicles actual speed.”
The two Hondas were towed from the scene, the report stated.
No mention was made in the report about the possibility of intoxication or the conducting of a breathalyzer test.
“Nothing further,” Scott’s report concluded.
Several neighbors said they believe there should have been a “further.”
Emily, one of the owners of the home where the driver landed, watched the crash. (She asked not to be identified by her last name.) She had been walking her dog on the block an hour before the crash.
Emily and her partner moved into their home in March. Since then she has worried about a crash like Wednesday’s night’s occurring, given how often drivers “fly through” the intersection.
“Anyone could have been walking on that corner,” Emily noted.
Emily said the driver “clearly has been through a lot,” so while she doesn’t necessarily believe the driver should have been arrested, she was surprised she didn’t see police conduct a breathalyzer test or take more action in response to the crash.
Caprice Taylor Mendez, who lives across the street, said she too was surprised police didn’t appear to address the questions of drunk driving or excessive speeding.
“I didn’t expect an arrest per se,” especially given the trauma the driver has previously experienced, Mendez said. She said she did see a need for accountability, through which the driver “acknowledges endangering lives and apologizes in some form and committing to seeking help.” And perhaps helps the homeowners repair the front porch steps.
“This is an opportunity for restorative justice,” Mendez argued. “The driver may have a drinking problem and needs support. I witness speeding on Central and, once a month at least, a pedestrian, including myself, almost getting hit. A sense of safety is important.”
Mendez added another suggestion, echoed often by her neighbors: “What about speed bumps to slow cars down and not think our streets are speedway?”
While police were at the scene of the Central Avenue crash, a shooting incident was reported across town on Long Wharf.
Sven Martson sent in the above video of a two-car crash that occurred at the intersection of Dwight Street and Edgewood Avenue the night before.
So, being a victim of police violence gives one a right to commit one's one violence? Like how Paul Witherspoon wasn't arrested for attempted robbery because he was the victim of a police assault. Screwy world. We had all better arm ourselves, because we have entered a period of anarchy.