A 38-year-old Peabody man incurred life-threatening injuries after a single-car crash early this morning in West Newbury.
The driver, who was alone and not yet identified by West Newbury Police, was taken by Atlantic Ambulance to Pentucket Regional School in Groveland before being transported by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital.
Police Chief Jeffrey Durand said the driver crashed into a tree after first being spotted around 12:30 a.m., driving toward Groveland on Route 113 past the West Newbury Public Safety Building. Police observed the Cadillac sedan was being driven with a tire missing and riding on a rim.
Believing the vehicle had been in a prior crash, and given the danger of operating a vehicle on its rims, an officer turned on his emergency lights and attempted to stop the car. The driver refused to stop. A second West Newbury cruiser was in the area of Knapp’s Greenhouses, 170 Main St., about 1.2 miles away, headed in the opposite direction toward Newburyport. That officer observed the Cadillac approximately one minute later, driving toward him at a high rate of speed with sparks coming from the undercarriage of the vehicle.
The Cadillac passed the second officer, and a preliminary investigation suggests the car’s left front rim fell off shortly before leaving the road, striking a fence and then returning to the roadway for approximately 2/10 of a mile before crossing the double yellow line, leaving the roadway on the left side and finally striking a tree.