ADDISON COUNTY — Slippery road conditions in the county late last week contributed to a number of traffic crashes.
Vermont State Police noted that Route 7 was icing as it was snowing on Jan. 10 at around 8:30 a.m. when an Acura MDX rear-ended a Ford box truck on that highway in Ferrisburgh near Round Barn Road.
Trooper Dempsey reported that Andrea Kerin, 50, of Monkton in the Acura was following William Johnston, 45, of Bristol in the truck at approximately 50 mph when Johnson began to slow for the traffic in front of him and Kerin was unable to adequately slow down when her vehicle began to slide on the ice. The Acura sustained substantial front-end damage when it struck the rear of the truck, which sustained minor damage.
As the weather turned from cold to warm with lots of rain the next day, troopers on Saturday at 7:57 a.m. responded to a one-car accident on Route 125 in Addison. Police report that Irina Brayant, 47, was driving a 2010 Nissan Cube eastbound on Route 125 when she lost control of the vehicle, it crossed over the centerline, went off the road and rolled onto its passenger side. Addison Fire Department responded and extracted Brayant from the vehicle uninjured.
That afternoon, at 3:23 p.m., when the road was still wet and the weather was described as rainy and foggy, police report that 18-year-old James Wells of Shoreham was driving a 2004 Jeep northbound on Route 74 in Cornwall when he saw another vehicle begin to pull out into his lane. As Wells began to swerve to avoid colliding with the second vehicle, he lost control of the Jeep and went off the road into a copse of small trees. An 18-year-old passenger in the Jeep was taken to Porter Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The vehicle sustained substantial damage.
Also on Saturday, state police responded to a crash in Salisbury, where police said Carla Brown, 50, of Corning, N.Y., was driving a 2009 Honda Accord on Lower Plains Road near Rice Cemetery when the Accord left the roadway and collided with a tree. Brown was transported to Porter Hospital to be treated for injuries. The car was totaled. Trooper Szarejko reported that this collision was still under investigation and criminal charges are pending.
Meanwhile, as reported in Monday’s edition of the Independent, state police said they suspected that a Salisbury man who died at his home in an untimely manner this past Thursday had been using heroin, but they did not know if that played a role in his death.
Troopers along with local emergency medical services were dispatched on Jan. 9 at about 1:46 p.m. to a report of an unresponsive male discovered in a single-room rental off Route 7 near Plains Road in Salisbury. Andrew R. Henderson, 59, was unresponsive when discovered by a neighbor. He was pronounced dead shortly after the arrival of emergency personnel.
An investigation into Henderson’s death is under way.
Sgt. Robert Patten noted that VSP and EMS personnel responded to another person in medical distress at a different home along Route 7 in Salisbury just 42 minutes before responding to Henderson’s death. There were indicators that the person in medical distress in this case had been using heroin, Patten said. The patient was transported by ambulance to Porter Hospital in Middlebury. No death resulted this case, Patten said.
In other recent activity, state police:
•  On Jan. 7 at approximately 3:58 p.m. stopped a vehicle driven by Jonah Kleinfeldt, 38, of Bristol after police said they clocked him doing 70 mph in a 50 mph zone on Route 7 in Waltham. Police cited Kleinfeldt for driving with a criminally suspended license and issued him a speeding ticket.
•  On Jan. 8 issued a report updating an earlier case. Trooper Knapp said that VSP on this past Nov. 27 had received a call about an assault that occurred on Route 100 in Granville involving Elwin Twitchell, 35, of Granville. After speaking with both parties, paperwork was sent to the Addison County State’s Attorney’s office for possible criminal charges. Knapp reported last week that prosecution was declined.
•  On Jan. 10 stopped a motor vehicle driven by Brian Lattrell, 41, of Bristol on Devino Lane in Bristol for a motor vehicle infraction. Police cited Lattrell for driving with a criminally suspended license.
•  On Jan. 12 at 12:50 a.m. went to a Monkton residence for a reported assault that had occurred earlier in the evening. Police arrested Terry Barrows, 50, of Monkton, charged him with aggravated domestic assault and lodged him at the Marble Valley Correctional Facility for lack of $1,000 bail.
•  On Jan. 12 at 4:50 p.m. received a call about a car that was off the road in a ravine on Route 100 near Plunkton Road in Granville. Driver Richard Gaboury, 59, of Hancock told police that he was driving a 2007 Subaru Impreza northbound on Route 100 when he hit some ice and lost control of the vehicle. Gaboury was not injured, according to police, but the vehicle was towed due to damage.
•  On the evening of Jan. 12  responded to a report of an assault at a residence on Crown Point Road in Bridport. Investigation led police to arrest James Turner, 24, of Bridport and cite him for domestic assault and interference with emergency communication.
• On Jan. 13 fielded reports of burglaries overnight at four homes in Monkton and one in Charlotte, which police suspect were related. The homes were on Pond Road, Boro Hill Road, Parks Hurlburt Road, and Old Stage Road in Monkton and on Prindle Road in Charlotte. See a full story in A section of today’s edition.