Motorized scooter to MedFlight

I might be getting a little rusty here. There was a very serious moped crash about a block from my house today at Hildreth and Coburn streets in Lowell and I was busy cleaning and totally oblivious to it.

Sarah picked up on this one during the day shift, and city police now tell me the driver was a 42-year-old Lowell man who is in critical but stable condition after being flown to New England Medical Center in Boston by a MedFlight helicopter.

Police say the 42-year-old was wearing a helmet as he drove his 50CC motorized scooter eastbound (toward Bridge Street) on Hildreth Street around noon. The 42-year-old, for an unknown reason, drove directly into a telephone pole near 107 Hildreth Street.

He suffered serious head and chest injuries.

Lowell Police are reconstructing what happened. So far there is no indication that another vehicle was involved. No charges have been filed.

Mustang versus Crown Vic in Lowell

The Mustang lost.

I’m not yet sure what started the motor vehicle pursuit that started on Bridge Street in Centralville tonight, but I do know how it ended, because it ended with this guy in handcuffs.

Police tell me this is Anthony Burcell, 20, of 240 Pelczar Road, Dracut.

Police say officers in a car that patrols Centralville tried to stop the Ford Mustang pictured below here on Bridge Street about 8:20 p.m., but the driver of the car refused to stop.

The chase went up Bridge Street, and I’m told Pelczar nearly struck several pedestrians as he fled police.

Rollover into a house in Pelham

Pelham Police were called to 46 Old Gage Hill Road, a few hundred yards from Ledge Road, tonight about 8:30 p.m., for a report of a motor vehicle rollover.

Police and emergency crews arrived to find a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer that was traveling toward Route 38 on Old Gage Hill Road when it went out of control, rolled over, struck a pickup truck and a house and then came to rest on its side and caught fire.

“The vehicle had sustained extensive damage and was on fire,” Lt. Gary Fisher said in a press release. “With the assistance of some concerned citizens, officers were able to move the driver away from the vehicle and extinguish the flames.”

The picture above is the best shot I could get of the vehicle when I went to the scene, because police were reconstructing what happened and the area directly around the car was part of the crime scene.

Lt. Fisher, who was on scene, said the driver, Michael Walworth, 27, of Methuen, suffered life-threatening injuries. Walworth was taken by ambulance to the Harris Pelham Inn, where the MedFlight helicopter was waiting. He was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Lt. Fisher said both speed and alcohol appear to be factors in this crash, though no charges have been filed so far.

UPDATE: Lt. Fisher tells me Walworth is in critical condition at Mass General tonight. No one was home at the time of this crash. The residents of the home haven’t answered my calls so far.

Drunken hit and run

City police got a call reporting a hit and run accident on Chelmsford Street near A Street, about 8:30 p.m. The caller said his vehicle had been struck by a white “work truck” that failed to stop.

The driver of the Chevy pictured below continued to follow the white truck that struck his vehicle.

Officer Chad Collins was on patrol in the area of Plain Street, when he spotted the white truck described by the caller. Collins followed the truck, eventually pulling it over on Wilder Street, near Etta Road.

A short time later, Collins called for the prisoner transport wagon because he had the driver in custody for drunken driving.

Ejected without a helmet on

It’s bike week in Laconia, N.H., and New Hampshire State Police say a 43-year-old Lowell man who went north to join the festivities is fighting for his life tonight after crashing his motorcycle while he didn’t have a helmet on.

State Police say Joseph Camara, 43, of Lowell, was taken to Lakes Regional Medical Center and then flown by MedFlight to Maine Medical Center after his motorcycle rear-ended a 2002 Dodge Caravan being driven on Route 3 in Laconia today about 2 p.m.

Police say Camara pulled out of the parking lot of Funspot, and then drove into the back of a Caravan driven by Richard Gaynor, 42, of New Hampton, N.H. Gaynor was not hurt.

Camara was ejected from his bike, and suffered serious injuries. Police said he was in stable condition at Maine Medical Center as of 6:40 p.m.

New Hampshire State Police are reconstructing the accident, and asking that anyone who witnessed the crash call Trooper First Class John Curran at 603.223.8838.

You can download the New Hampshire State Police press release here.

Please remember to keep an eye out for motorcycles this time of year.