accident

A driver struck a house garage at 4982 Route 63, south of Shepard Road. The driver is out and "okay" but there's heavy and "significant" structural damage to the garage. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding and Mercy medic #1 is on scene.

UPDATE 8:26 p.m.: The house is for sale and unoccupied. The driver did not require transport to a hospital and Mercy medics are back in service. A tow truck will be responding to haul away the vehicle.

Photo by Michelle Taylor.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported on West Main Street Road in the Town of Batavia, which has its fire department responding along with Mercy medics. Mercy Flight is called to the town's Highway Department.

UPDATE 7:46 p.m.: Sheriff's deputies are also responding. The highway department is located at 3833 W. Main Street Road.

UPDATE 7:49 p.m.: The accident is blocking both lanes of traffic.

UPDATE 7:50 p.m.: One patient has an "angular fracture to the right leg."

UPDATE 7:57 p.m.: Mercy Flight has landed in the parking lot of the Town Hall. That option was chosen due to concern about the gravel on the ground at the adjacent Highway Department.

UPDATE 8:45 p.m.: Town of Batavia's assignment is back in service and both westbound lanes are reopened.

An injury accident is reported on the westbound Thruway at mile marker 384.6. Le Roy fire and ambulance are responding.

UPDATE 3:04 p.m.: Two vehicles are involved. This is possibly "an intox" -- a driver allegedly may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A State Trooper is on scene and they are closing one lane to traffic.

A one-vehicle rollover accident was reported about 20 minutes ago at 1050 Route 98 in Alexander. (Due to a computer glitch, we were unable to post it then.) The female driver was reportedly unresponsive. Mercy Flight was called, then cancelled. The location is between Main and Stroh roads. Mercy medics and law enforcement are on scene and no further development have been heard on the scanner.

UPDATE 5:02 a.m.: Mercy medic #2 is transporting the patient to Erie County Medical Center. A tow truck is called for the vehicle.

UPDATE 10:52 a.m. (by Howard): In a news release, the Sheriff's Office identified the driver as Ann L. Cox, 42, of Attica. She was driving a 2006 Pontiac G6 south on Route 98 when the car left the roadway and struck a sign post and continued south until it struck a culvert at 10850 Route 98. Cox suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to ECMC by Mercy EMS. The investigation is continuing and charges are pending. The investigation is being handled by Deputy Kevin McCarthy, Deputy Bradley Mazur and Deputy Frank Bordonaro.

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at Route 77 and Akron Road, Indian Falls. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are responding, along with Mercy medics. A female complains of neck, side and back pain.

UPDATE 12:54 p.m.: Firefighters are working to extricate a victim(s).

UPDATE 1:22 p.m.: The firefighters are back in service.

A truck rolled over at 944 Bloomingdale Road at Griffin Road. The driver has minor injuries. Alabama Fire Department is on scene and Mercy medics are responding. The truck is leaking fluids and there is a van blocking the roadway.

UPDATE 12:11 p.m.: Alabama commands puts the medics back in service.

UPDATE 12:50 p.m.: The Alabama assignment is back in service.

A car accident with minor injuries is reported at Route 33 and Lyman Road in Bergen. Bergen fire and medics are responding. The vehicle is said to be about 20 feet off the roadway into some small trees.

UPDATE 7:35 p.m.: Bergen is back in service.

UPDATE 7:50 p.m.: An 18-year-old male is being taken to UMMC with complaints of left-side pain in his hip, back and ribs.

A car rammed into a power pole at 2510 Broadway Road (Route 20), west of Darien Alexander Townline Road. Live wires are down, a transformer is also down and leaking fluid. "The road is smoldering from arcing wires." Darien fire is responding and Mercy medics.

UPDATE 6:48 p.m.: Alexander Fire Police are called to stop all westbound traffic on Route 20 at Route 98. National Grid has been notified; no ETA given. A responder says a live line is down across the car. The driver is out and denies any injuries.

UPDATE 7:05 p.m.: Attica Fire Police are responding to shut down eastbound traffic on Route 20 at Route 238.

UPDATE 7:54 p.m.: The power for the lines has been shut off.

UPDATE 8:07 p.m.: Route 20 is reopened. Darien, Attica and Alexander are back in service.

A two-car accident is reported at Walkers Corners Road and Byron Road. A 62-year-old subject complains of chest pain. The vehicles are leaking fluid. Byron medics, Byron and South Byron fire personnel are responding.

UPDATE 6:03 p.m.: One of the vehicles is blocking the intersection.

UPDATE 6:42 p.m.: One person was transported to UMMC. Responders are back in service.

A vehicle has reportedly hit a trial in a trailer park on Gaslite Lane, Batavia.

Two people were in the vehicle and both have been detained.

No injuries are reported.

UPDATE 10:43 a.m.: Reporter Alecia Kaus is on scene and reports that a State Trooper was attempting to perform a traffic stop on the vehicle and the vehicle didn't stop and the driver allegedly attempted to ditch the vehicle in the trailer park. Two people are being taken into custody. A trooper told dispatchers that at least one person faces a possible criminal possession of a controlled substance charge.

UPDATE 11:05 a.m.: The car struck the trailer in Lot #11. Nobody was home at the time.

A season's worth of preserves along with 10 bushels of apples bought just today for canning were destroyed tonight at the Swendsen home on Akron Road, Pembroke, when a Mercury Mountaineer came roaring up the driveway of the farm and plowed through the family's dining room.

The son of Peter and Lynette Swendsen was just feet away frying up some eggs.

Lynette thanked God over and over as she talked  about the accident.

She was thankful that nobody was hurt or killed in the accident -- not her son who was minutes away from sitting at the dining room table turned into splinters by the SUV, not herself who was in the house on the phone with her mother-in-law, not her husband who was standing feet from the gravel driveway when the vehicle went rushing by, and not her younger son, who was helping bring in cows that were panicked by the loud boom of the car smashing into the house.

Even the driver, reported to be Jason M. Purdy, 34, of Tesnow Road, Alabama, suffered only minor injuries.

"I do all of my own canning and preserves," Lynette said. "We have six children, so I do all of that myself. All of our jelly was done for the year.

"It sounds crazy to be upset about it," she added, "but that kid hit that stove in our kitchen and it must weigh 1,500 pounds -- you just can't imagine  -- that alone could have killed him. It's just unbelievable he didn't die."

Everybody was lucky, said Sgt. John Szumigala, of the Sheriff's Office.

"There was nobody in the room that was completely demolished by the car," Szumigala said. "There were people close to it, but nobody in it. And nobody was in his path coming down the driveway, so everybody was very lucky."

Peter Swendsen said it looked like the SUV was doing 100 mph down his driveway.

Both Peter and Lynette described the car hitting the house as an explosion.

"It was like something you never heard in your life," Lynette said.

The vehicle came to rest on a tree stump in the back yard, with the front wheels off the ground.

"He was still trying to go," Peter said. "He still had his foot on the gas pedal."

Peter helped him get out of the Mountaineer and when the driver, according to Peter, tried to run, Peter said he "grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him to the ground."

When Lynette came out of the house, Peter was yelling at her to call 9-1-1.

"I still had the phone in my hand from my mother-in-law," Lynette said. "I was just frantic with the lady on the phone because I didn't know if anybody was hurt. I didn't even know what happened."

The red preserves splattered against the outside wall of the house gave some of the first responders quite a start when they arrived on the scene, but they soon realized it was just jelly.

Purdy was transported to ECMC by Mercy EMS with minor injuries.

He's believed to be the same person who was reported as a possibly intoxicated driver on Akron Road prior to the accident. When a patrol arrived, the vehicle couldn't be located. A short time later, a vehicle reportedly hit a road sign on Akron Road, and then minutes later, at 7:07 p.m., the call came into emergency dispatch for a car hitting a house at 721 Akron Road.

Purdy was not the owner of the SUV. About an hour after the accident, a young woman showed up at the scene in tears. She said it was her vehicle that hit the house.

The initial investigation indicates, Szumigala said, that Purdy had permission to drive the vehicle, but he did not necessarily have permission to have taken the vehicle for as long as he appears to have taken it. 

The Swendsen's home on their organic dairy farm is situated down a long driveway -- well more than 100 yards long -- off Akron Road at a T-intersection with Marble Road. Szumigala said it appears Purdy was heading north on Marble Road and just continued straight across Akron Road into the driveway.

Peter said Purdy kept asking if he was on Akron Road after he was out of the SUV.

The incident remains under investigation and Purdy has not yet been charged with any crimes.

Lynette said Purdy said he was sorry, before he was taken away by Mercy EMS, for hitting her house. She said she was just glad he wasn't seriously hurt.

Responding to the scene were volunteer firefighters from Pembroke, East Pembroke Corfu and Darien. The accident is being investigated by deputies Kevin McCarthy and Patrick Reeves and Sgt. Szumigala and Investigator Roger Stone.

A car is on its roof in a ditch off Pike Road, Batavia, but the driver is out, walking around and not injured.

Town of Batavia fire is on scene along with law enforcement.

The accident is in the area of 3711 Pike Road.

UPDATE 9:42 p.m.: Town of Batavia fire back in service.

A minor-injury accident is reported at Gulf and Church roads in the Town of Le Roy. Law enforcement is en route. Le Roy Fire Department is on scene.

UPDATE 8:20 p.m.: The Le Roy assignment is back in service.

Two nearly simultaneous car accidents require the response of both the Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments, along with Corfu and mutual aid from Darien.

At 7:07 p.m. a car-into-house accident, with injuries, was reported at 721 Akron Road. The side porch was "completely taken out and there is substantial damage to the vehicle," according to a responder.

This may connected to a just-prior accident at 878 Gabbey Road where a car reportedly went off the road and there are injuries. The pickup truck involved is said to have fled the scene.

A responder said he was nearly hit head on by the pickup truck believed to be the same one which left the Gabbey Road incident.

Darien Fire Department is requested to aid in shoring up the residence that was struck on Akron Road, wherein one person suffered a hand laceration.

7:35 p.m.: One person is being loaded into a Mercy rig for hospital transport. The natural gas fuel provider is called to the scene since the house that was struck had its gas on at the time of impact.

7:55 p.m.: One person was taken to ECMC. National Grid was also called to the scene.

A two-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported in front of Wendy's restaurant on West Main Street. City police, fire and Mercy medics are on scene.

UPDATE 12:35 p.m.: Mercy medics transported a 46-year-old female to UMMC. She complains of lower abdominal pain. Responders are back in service.

A motorcycle accident, with minor injuries, is reported at Lewiston and Galloway roads. Mercy medics and Town of Batavia Fire Department are called to respond.

An accident is reported on the westbound Thruway at mile marker 384.4. Le Roy fire and ambulance are responding. Injuries are said to be minor. Traffic is backing up. "Sounds like a truck was stopped on the shoulder of the road and a vehicle may have rear-ended it," says a dispatcher.

UPDATE 6:47 p.m.: A responder says one passenger is "sitting up but is disoriented."

A two-car accident, with one person complaining of abdominal pain, is reported at Town Line Road and South Lake Road in Bergen. It is blocking traffic. Mercy and Bergen ambulances and Bergen fire are responding. Two others in the accident are minors and need to be evaluated.

UPDATE 6:45 p.m.: About 15 minutes ago, Bergen ambulance transported one patient to South Lake Hospital in Brockport.

UPDATE 7:10 p.m.: Medics are back in service with two sign offs.

A two-vehicle accident is reported at 9970 Fargo Road in Darien. It is blocking traffic. One person is complaining of neck pain. A Sheriff's deputy is on scene. Mercy medics are responding. The location is between Bell and Reynolds roads.

A truck versus bicycle accident is reported at 8220 Prole Road Extension. Stafford Fire Department and Mercy Medics are responding.

UPDATE 3:06 p.m.: Despite reports the bicyclist "flew through the air," the 20 40-year-old male suffered no loss of consciousness and he is alert, with some road rash injuries.

UPDATE 3:10 p.m.: A witness says the vehicle which struck the bicyclist is not a truck. It's a small red car, which left the scene, heading toward the city on Route 33. It is missing the passenger side mirror glass as a result of the impact.

UPDATE 3:16 p.m.: The right headlight may also be damaged.

UPDATE 3:21 p.m.: Stafford firefighters are back in service.

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: The patient is being transported to UMMC for evaluation and treatment of abrasions on his elbow.