accident

A motor-vehicle accident is reported in the area of 7665 Bank Street Road, Batavia.

There's smoke coming from the vehicle. Two utility poles, next to each other, are involved. One injury, no extrication needed.

No wires are down. The poles are upright and intact. A chief is requesting National Grid respond to inspect the poles.

Town of Batavia fire responding along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 1:50 p.m.: Town of Batavia back in service. The roadway is reopened.

Reader-submitted photos.

An accident with injuries is reported in Stafford at Route 237 and Clinton Street Road. One patient has minor injuries and the other has a back injury, according to a first responder on scene. Stafford Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

A Jeep has reportedly hit a tree in the area of 215 Bloomingdale Road, Basom.

One person reportedly has a head injury.

Alabama fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 9:26 p.m.: Alabama back in service. The scene is turned over to State Police.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported on Main Street at Ellicott Street, in front of the Post Office.

A woman has a head laceration.

Three children are involved.

A second ambulance is requested to the scene.

City fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

A rollover accident with minor injuries is reported on eastbound Route 490 at milemarker 4.3. There are two occupants. A first responder on scene confirms that there is no entrapment as initially believed. Bergen Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 4:14 p.m.: One patient is refusing medical care; the other will be transported via a Churchville ambulance to a hospital. Mercy medics are cancelled.

A possible serious ATV accident is reported in the area of 5946 W. Sweden Road, Bergen.

Bergen fire and ambulance along with Mercy EMS dispatched.

A pair of luxury sports cars -- a 2007 Lotus Elise and a 2008 Lotus Elise California -- were involved in an accident at about 9:20 a.m. on Colby Road, Corfu, at the railroad crossing.

One of the drivers, from Clarence, said the Lotus doesn't have great clearance for going over railroad tracks so he slowed to go over the tracks and the driver behind him, from West Seneca, didn't notice him slow. The red car rear-ended the orange car, driving it off the road and into a utility pole.

The driver said, "I'm not upset by it. Accidents will happen." 

He figures insurance will cover the damage and nobody was hurt, and that's what really matters.

The two drivers, along with a third Lotus owner in the caravan, were on their way to Watkins Glen for a rally.

A motor vehicle accident is reported on Batavia Elba Townline Road at Pekin Road.

No serious injuries are reported but a third ambulance is requested to the scene. All remaining Mercy EMS ambulances are tied up so an ambulance from Byron is requested to the scene.

Town of Batavia fire responded to the call.

A driver is reportedly irate following a motor-vehicle accident at Bliss Road and Lewiston Road in Oakfield.

Injuries are reported.

Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 8:55 p.m.: There are possibly six injuries, including a pregnant female. A second ambulance is requested.

UPDATE 9:06 p.m.: A third ambulance requested.

A rider is down in the roadway after the report of an accident involving a motorcycle in the area of 240 State St., Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

Dispatchers are asked to check on the availability of Mercy Flight.

UPDATE: Mercy Flight was not required. No further word on injuries.

A semi-truck has rear-ended a sedan in the Easy Pass lane of Exit 48 of the Thruway in Pembroke.

Unknown injuries.

Pembroke and Indian Falls along with Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 8:49 p.m.: The occupant of the sedan is likely a sign off.

An accident involving a tractor-trailer is reported in the area of 401 W. Main St., Batavia.

Westbound traffic is blocked in both lanes.

No extrication required.

City fire on scene.

UPDATE 8:33 p.m.: There is also a sedan involved in the accident.

A caller to dispatch reports finding a pedestrian lying in the roadway on Park Road, just off Oak Street in the city after a hit-and-run accident. Mercy medics are on scene, along with City fire and police.

UPDATE 5:13 p.m.: The caller was mistaken; this was not a hit-and-run accident and no vehicle was involved. A pedestrian tripped and fell in the roadway and was subsequently found by a passerby. The pedestrian has some cuts and bruising and is being taken by Mercy medics to UMMC. City fire is back in service.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported at 41 Clinton St., Batavia. There are injuries and it is blocking traffic. The location is between East Avenue and Grandview Terrace. City fire, Mercy medics and police are responding.

UPDATE 4:52 p.m.: A first responder says this is a three-car accident and one of the vehicles is in the middle of the roadway, blocking traffic.

UPDATE 5:05 p.m.: Three flatbed tows are called to the scene.

UPDATE 5:23 p.m.: This was a rear-end chain-reaction accident involving four vehicles. According to witnesses at the scene, there was a line of cars southbound on Clinton Street, stopped at East Avenue, waiting their turn to go. The fourth vehicle, a white Nissan Murano, failed to stop and struck a Ken Barrett auto dealership van, which slammed into dark Chrysler 200, which in turn struck a dark-colored Ford Escape. The Ford Escape driver told the Chrysler driver that "it wasn't her fault" so she "wasn't sticking aound," and she left before first responders arrived. The Ken Barrett employee suffered minor injuries and was transported to UMMC by Mercy ambulance. The police officer at the scene would not speak to a reporter so we do not know whether the Nissan Murano driver was cited. The assignment to Clinton Street is back in service.

A two-vehicle collision is reported at 6124 Quaker Hill Road in Elba, just north of Ridge Road. A vehicle is in a ditch on both sides of the roadway and there's debris in the roadway. Elba Fire Department is on scene along with two Mercy rigs. Mercy Flight in Batavia is called to the scene. One person complains of back, neck and wrist pain; another has a severe laceration. Fire police are called to shut down Route 98 at Ridge Road, and Route 98 at Quaker Hill Road.

UPDATE 4:49 p.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.

UPDATE 4:50 p.m.: Both patients have been extricated.

UPDATE 4:52 p.m.: A third patient is a sign-off. One patient is being transported by ground ambulance to ECMC.

UPDATE (information via Alecia Kaus/Video News Service): According to the Elba Fire Department, the driver and the passenger in the red pickup were transported to ECMC. One via Mercy Flight, and one via ground ambulance. The driver of the white vehicle was being checked out on scene.

State Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service.

The suspect remains at large and no tips have been received to help Batavia police solve the hit-and-run case.

Sue's daugther, Corfu resident Kimberly Reed, is hoping that changes because as things stand, she is disgusted.

Disgusted that the driver well knew he hit somebody on a bike, bothered to get out of his truck and walk over and see the blood and injuries, yet he got back into his pickup and continued on his way.

"What happened was an accident," Kimberly said. "What happened afterward was not an accident. It's disgusting. He stopped, got out of his truck and went over to her and looked at her, and looked horrified when he saw the blood. He said something to her, which she couldn't understand because she had a concussion. Then he got back in his truck and continued down Vine."

The accident occurred between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Sue, who had recently taken up bicycling for exercise, was riding her small black 10-speed on the sidewalk and when she got to Vine, Kimberly says her mother told her she stopped at the light and waited for it to turn green to proceed.

When she was in the middle of the crosswalk, the mystery pickup truck, also eastbound, made a left turn onto Vine Street heading north and struck the bicyclist.

Sue, who lived most of her life in Oakfield before moving to Batavia, says doesn't recall the color of the truck, just that it was big and had bigger than average wheels and a chrome grill.

The driver is described as very tall, very skinny, smooth-shaven and blond, under age 40. Sue cannot recall any details about his clothing.

The driver left his truck, approached her, and she heard him say something to her. He headed immediately back to his vehicle, and she assumed he was going to call 9-1-1. Instead, incredulously, she watched him drive off and leave her there.

The bicycle was relatively undamaged. But Sue was hurt and can't recall how she managed to get the bike and herself out of the roadway.

She called her boyfriend, who was at a diner in Elba, and sat waiting for him on the side of the road, bleeding and moving to three different spots as she waited for help to arrive.

No one stopped to ask about her or offer aid.

"You could have wrung the blood out of her clothes, that's how badly she was injured," Kimberly said.

After about 20 minutes or so her boyfriend arrived from Elba and took her to the emergency room at UMMC.

In addition to the concussion, Sue's right arm was broken by the impact of the truck's chrome grill. Her left arm was slashed from elbow to wrist and "could not be stitched; she'll have to go to a plastic surgeon." The left side of Sue's face is badly bruised and her teeth pierced through her mouth and her bottom lip had to be stitched together.

Two days later she had to return to the ER after an air pocket was found in her lungs from the impact. Results from a CAT* scan are pending and are expected to reveal the severity of the air pocket and whether it has grown or moved.

"This has really tore her up," Kimberly said of her mother, and the mental anguish only adds to the pain. "We've had like five hit-and-runs in Genesee County recently. It's getting worse; I guess people think they can get away with it.

"It's sickening. ... to get out and look at her, then get back in the truck and leave?! It's just not right."

Her mother would never think of doing that to someone. Not a woman who has spent the last seven years volunteering for Crossroads House, the local nonprofit hospice for the dying. Sue Reed would just do the right thing -- no explanation given, no excuses offered.

If you have information about this case, please contact Batavia Police Officer Peter Post at (585) 345-6350, the confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370, or online here.

*CAT: computerized axial tomography

Photo courtesy of Kimberly Reed.

Previously: BPD looking for anyone with info on pickup truck that struck bicyclist this morning

A four-vehicle accident, unknown injuries, is reported at West Main Street and River Street in the City of Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 7:11 p.m.: A car heading east on West Main Street slowed to make a left-hand turn onto Bogue Avenue, according to Sgt. Mitch Cowen, and while the next two cars in line came to a stop behind the turning a vehicle, a fourth vehicle did not stop, causing a chain-reaction accident. One vehicle was not damaged and left the scene after police arrived. One person sustained a minor injury and was transported by Mercy EMS to UMMC for evaluation. The driver of the fourth vehicle will likely be cited for following too closely, Cowen said.

A two-car collision is reported in Darien at Broadway and Harlow roads. One of the vehicles went off the roadway and into the woods. Unknown injuries. Darien fire and EMS are responding.

UPDATE (By Howard) 1:34 p.m.: Two vehicles, not blocking, minor MVA with no injuries, a first-responder reports.

A 21-year-old Alden resident has identified himself to Sheriff's Office investigators as the driver of a car that struck a motorcyclist who was down in the roadway following a collision just before 9 p.m. on Friday in Corfu.

Alexander J. Wuerch has been charged with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in serious physical injury.

Investigators believe Wuerch was the driver of a 2012 Hyundai Tucson that struck Travis R. Hartloff, 26, of Attica.

Hartloff was driving a motorcycle southbound on Route 77 when a car ahead of him slowed to turn into an ice cream shop. Hartloff's bike reportedly struck the vehicle and Hartloff was thrown from the bike into the middle of the roadway.

Another southbound vehicle then struck Harloff causing serious physical injuries. He was flown by Mercy Flight to ECMC where he is in critical condition.

Wuerch turned himself in at about 5 p.m. today.

The charge he's facing is a Class E felony. He was issued an appearance ticket and released.

The incident remains under investigation.

Previously:

• Motorist fails to stop after striking motorcyclist down in the roadway on Route 77
• Deputies looking for 2012 Hyundai Tucson involved in hit-and-run accident in Corfu