About 2:33 am on Sunday, July 20, police received a call reporting that a vehicle had driven off the road and gone down an embankment alongside Hawleyville Road (Route 25), near the Brookfield town line.

Police responded to the area to investigate and found that motorist Robert Pallo, 62, of Brookfield, who was driving a 1991 Chevrolet Corvette coupe, was trapped inside the sports car amid trees and brush on an embankment on residential property at 63 Hawleyville Road. There were no passengers.

Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company firefighters and the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps were called to the scene.

Hawleyville Fire Chief John Basso said that the Chevrolet had traveled about 40 feet down an embankment before stopping.

Firefighters got access to the auto, which was positioned on difficult terrain, via an adjacent driveway at 61 Hawleyville Road, Chief Basso said. Nine firefighters responded.

Firefighters used a hydraulic tool to open the driver’s door of the auto and free Pallo from the wreckage. Pallo was conscious and alert while the 17-minute extrication was underway, the fire chief said.

After being removed from the auto, Pallo was transported by ambulance to Danbury Hospital for treatment of injuries, police said.

Pallo was treated for injuries at the hospital’s emergency department and then released, a hospital spokeswoman said July 22.

 Police explained how the accident happened: 

 Pallo was driving the Chevrolet northward on Hawleyville Road  when the vehicle swerved to the left and then struck some guard cabling on the left side of the road.

The car went through that guard cabling and then traveled down the embankment, after which it struck a tree. The impact heavily damaged the auto and vegetation in the area.

Police Officer Charles Guernsey is investigating the crash.