NOTE: This is expanded coverage of a crash that had brief coverage last week.

A half-mile stretch of South Main Street was closed for over 13 hours last Thursday morning following a two-vehicle crash that sent three people to the hospital and destroyed a utility pole for the second time since April.

Newtown Police, Botsford Fire Rescue, multiple ambulance crews and a paramedic all responded to South Main just south of its intersection with Cold Spring Road after a crash was reported at 5:51 am August 3. When they arrived at the scene, first responders found multiple vehicles in the road in front of the former Patty’s Pantry restaurant.

A subsequent investigation determined that a 2007 Mazda 3i being operated by Vincent Matera, 61, of Monroe, was traveling northbound on South Main Street.

At the same time, a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado operated by Christopher Morris, 48, of Dingmans Fry, Penn., was traveling southbound on South Main Street.

A 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE and 2015 Toyota RAV-4 were traveling south behind the Silverado.

The Mazda crossed the double yellow lines into the southbound lane in front of 282 South Main Street, striking the Silverado’s front left bumper. The Silverado subsequently veered off the roadway to the right, and struck a Frontier utility pole near the west shoulder. The pole broke into three pieces.

The broken pole and wires fell across both lanes of traffic including on top of the Highlander and the RAV-4.

All drivers were told to remain in their vehicles until the lines could be de-energized.

Due to the wires and poles in the road, the crash immediately closed the half-mile stretch of South Main Street. Public Works employees responded with detour signs, sending through-traffic over nearby tertiary roads.

Matera and Morris were taken to the hospital, as was Yessica Ramos, 27, of Danbury, the driver of the Highlander. Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Bethel Fire Ambulance, and Stony Hill Ambulance transported the drivers.

Julio Castillo-Suazo, 35, of Danbury, who was operating the RAV-4, was reportedly not injured.

All operators were reportedly wearing seat belts. A Danbury Hospital representative had no information on any of the patients as of August 9.

The Mazda3 and Silverado sustained heavy front end damage and were towed from the scene by Envy Towing.

The Silverado, owned by a Kentucky-based blasting company, was carrying explosives that were unloaded by Morris’s co-workers before the truck was moved.

The Highlander and RAV-4, which had the utility wires come down onto their roofs, did not have visible damage and were able to leave the scene without a tow.

The crash is still under investigation. Anyone who may have seen anything and hasn’t yet done so is encouraged to contact NPD Officer Steven Borges at 203-426-5841.

Thursday’s was the second crash in just over three months at that location. On April 4, a 39-year-old male driver told police he looked at his phone while operating his 2004 Jeep Liberty southbound in the same area. The Jeep left the west side of the road, striking a utility pole and then a metal picnic table in front of Patty’s Pantry.

The driver, Mark Moguel of Bridgeport, was uninjured but that crash also closed South Main Street for hours while a pole and wires were replaced and restrung.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.