‘Bang, bang, bang!’

Bad driver plays demolition derby on Summer Street

A number of Summer Street residents were left in the dark Saturday night when a bad driver smashed through a fire hydrant, took out a utility pole, and hit a second pole before fleeing the scene.

Lisa Schlaver said she had just pulled in to her Summer Street driveway and started walking up her steps when she heard the crashes. By the time she ran down the front lawn and looked next door, the driver was already pulling back on to Summer Street and driving away towards Walnut Street.

“He took out everything,” she said while looking out at the resulting damage.

The hydrant and utility poles are located in front of Linda and John O’Brien’s house.

“There were no brakes, just bang, bang, bang,” said Linda O’Brien.

When they looked outside, the truck was stuck against the second utility pole, spinning its wheels.

“I couldn’t believe he drove away,” she said.

“He didn’t get very far,” John O’Brien said. “Because the passenger wheel was smashed in.”

The crashes left one utility pole hanging upside down in a twist of wires, and a fire hydrant on its side. Surprisingly, there was no water leaking out from the damaged hydant or underground pipe.

Police could be heard on a radio scanner saying they had possibly found the vehicle in Rockland.

Rockland Police and a Plymouth County investigation team could be seen around 11:15 p.m. checking out a truck at a residence located off Beech Street in Rockland, about a mile from the accident scene.

Rockland Police referred questions to Abington Police. Abington Police did not immediately respond to inquiries.

The O’Briens said traffic has gotten increasingly bad along Summer Street over the years, particularly cars traveling east from Route 18 downhill to the Walnut Street intersection.

“They just hit the gas all the way down,” Linda O’Brien said.