ITEM PHOTO BY MATT DEMIRS
Police and firefighters examine the SUV that crashed on Linwood Street.
By MATT DEMIRS
A 56-year-old Gloucester man was injured Monday afternoon after his SUV rolled over on Linwood Street. Lynn firefighters and police responded to a rollover crash and the man, whose name wasn’t given, was taken to Salem Hospital with unknown injuries, said District Chief of Fire Tim Collier.
“We were able to first stabilize the vehicle, extricate the individual with the jaws of life,” he said.
According to neighbors, the driver was headed north on Linwood Street, where he side-swiped approximately five cars, hit a fence, rolled over, and eventually landed on a small wall outside of 137 Linwood. The police said he struck three parked cars, a chain-link fence and a cement wall.
The mangled car was just feet away from hitting a telephone pole.
David Petruccelli, who lives where the crash occurred, said he watched the car flip and come to a stop right from his front windows.
He was one of the first people on the scene.
“The driver was shaken up, but responsive and asking for help,” he said.
His neighbor, Joseph Columbus of 135 Linwood, heard the crash from inside his house.
“It sounded like a big truck bouncing,” he said. When he and his mother, Jackie, walked outside, they saw the tan Ford Explorer flipped upside down.
Jackie Columbus said she saw three or four nips of alcohol on the ground next to the car.
Petruccelli also stated he smelled alcohol when he approached the car, but wasn’t sure if the driver had been drinking.
Firefighters collected trash and personal articles from the scene, including clothing which read Revere Fire.
Matt Demirs can be reached at [email protected].