Three-Vehicle Crash Snarls South Main Traffic

By Andrew Gorosko

A three-vehicle accident on South Main Street, which trapped a Danbury man in a pickup truck Tuesday morning, resulted in extensive travel delays on the heavily used road, also known as Route 25.

The accident, which occurred in front of 91 South Main Street, involved a tractor-trailer truck, a pickup truck, and sport-utility vehicle.

Lengthy sections of the thoroughfare both north and south of the accident were closed to through-traffic for about two and one-half hours as police investigated the crash. Police created detours to reroute traffic through the area.

About 9:42 am, southbound motorist Luis Romero, 38, of Danbury, who was driving a 1993 Toyota pickup truck, stopped and signaled to make a left turn into a commercial driveway, police said.

Southbound trucker Anthony Novella, 42, of Newburgh, N.Y., who was driving a 2003 International tractor-trailer truck, then went into a skid in seeking to avoid a collision with the pickup truck, police said.

But the tractor-trailer struck the pickup from behind, pushing the pickup into the northbound lane, where it collided with northbound motorist Richard Hopwood, 35, of Seymour who was driving a 2006 Scion sport-utility vehicle, police said.

After that impact, the crumpled pickup truck came to rest on its left side.

Hook & Ladder and Botsford firefighters then removed the damaged roof of the pickup truck to extricate Romero from the vehicle.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported Romero and Hopwood to Danbury Hospital for treatment of injuries. Romero was admitted as a patient on Tuesday and discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Hopwood was treated at the hospital and released.

Novella was not injured in the accident, police said. 

A police inspection of the tractor-trailer truck revealed that three pressurized air lines for brakes on the vehicle were chafed, resulting in three trucking violations. Police said the chafed air lines did not cause the accident. Also, Novella received an infraction ticket for following too closely.

At 11:53 pm on Tuesday, a four-vehicle accident occurred on South Main Street, near the Monroe town line, resulting in a road closure in that area and extensive travel delays.