BRIDGEWATER — Police Chief Christopher D. Delmonte and Acting Fire Chief Michael P. MacDermott report that a Ware man suffered serious injuries following a single-vehicle crash in Bridgewater Sunday night.
On Sunday, April 4 at approximately 8:30 p.m., the Bridgewater Police and Fire departments received multiple 911 calls for a report of a motor vehicle crash into the woods in the area of 554 Forest St., with the vehicle on fire.
The crash was witnessed by off-duty Bridgewater Police K9 Officer Christopher Rondeau, who was travelling in the opposite direction. Officer Rondeau was able to drag the victim away from the fire, which was expanding to nearby brush and trees, and rendered first aid along with responding Officer Theo Barbetto.
Additional officers and firefighters arrived a short time later and observed the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee engulfed in flames. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames in the vehicle and nearby area.
The operator, and sole occupant of the vehicle, was given medical treatment by Bridgewater Fire Department Paramedics and was flown by medical helicopter from Scotland Field in Bridgewater to a Boston hospital.
The operator has been identified as John T. McClellan, age 34, of Ware.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle was being operated at a high rate of speed and left the roadway before striking multiple trees and catching fire. It is believed that the operator was ejected from the vehicle on impact.
The crash remains under investigation by Bridgewater Police Det. Sgt. Scott Hile, Det. Peter Balboni and Officer Theo Barbetto, assisted by the Raynham Police Department Accident Reconstruction Team.
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