POUGHKEEPSIE – The operator of a motorized scooter that struck a tree in the City of Poughkeepsie Saturday evening suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.
Around 6:30 p.m., city police were dispatched to the area of 81 South Hamilton Street for reports of a motorcycle that struck a tree. Responding officers found the male victim on the ground near 81 South Hamilton and requested dispatch to expedite the ambulance to the scene.
Poughkeepsie firefighters and medics from Mobile Life Support Services stabilized the patient who was reported as being in traumatic arrest. He was transported to a Poughkeepsie hospital. Family members say that the patient is comatose.
Officers on the scene interviewed several witnesses while awaiting the arrival of an accident reconstruction officer to arrive.
A witness told Mid-Hudson News that two scooters were racing southbound on the street, then left the roadway and traveled down the sidewalk. The witness who declined to be identified said that the one scooter lost control and struck the tree at a high rate of speed.
City of Poughkeepsie Police Captain Richard Wilson is appealing to the public for assistance. “If you witnessed the crash or scooters, motorcyclists, all-terrain vehicles in the immediate area of S. Hamilton St. at about 6:30 pm please call the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department at 451-4000.
