POUGHKEEPSIE – Shortly after 11 on Saturday night, City of Poughkeepsie police responded to reports of a construction truck that had crashed on Jewett Avenue off Main Street. The operator of the six-wheel truck had fled the scene before police arrived.
The truck, with Donnelly Construction Inc. on the door, is a “truck-mounted attenuator” which is used in road construction zones to protect workers from being struck by vehicles traveling through the construction area. According to the website of Donnelly, based in the Capital Region, they are a highway maintenance and traffic control company that also rents construction equipment, including trucks like the one that was wrecked and abandoned.
A resident of the neighborhood, speaking on condition of anonymity, witnessed the event.
According to the man, the truck was heading west on Main Street and made a sharp right turn onto Jewett, with the truck appearing to be out of control. As the driver was negotiating the turn, it crossed into the other lane, striking branches of a tree growing between the road and sidewalk. The witness said that the driver tried to swerve back into the proper lane but was unsuccessful. The Chevrolet truck continued traveling north on Jewett after striking the tree and came with inches of striking several parked vehicles. The eyewitness said that the truck came to a rest in a diagonal position across the street, facing the wrong way, and the driver jumped from the vehicle and ran to the backyard of a house on Jewett Street.
Minutes later, a resident of Jewett Street near where the truck was parked, came out to inspect the scene and see if his car was damaged. The witness says that the driver emerged from the backyard and was confronted by the owner of one of the vehicles parked inches away from the truck. The resident asked the driver if he was responsible for this, and the driver said “No. I just came over to see what was going on.” Moments later, the driver fled the scene, prior to the police arriving. “He looked like he was drunk,” said the man. “His legs were wobbly, and I don’t think it was from the close call.”
Responding officers inspected the scene, attempted to locate the driver but he was nowhere to be found. According to the witness, the driver was a white man, approximately 46-years-old, with a bald head.
The truck’s outside rear tire on the driver side was deflated.
City police made arrangements to have the vehicle towed to their impound yard as the investigation continued.
