accident

A one-car accident has been reported at Bank and Douglas in the City of Batavia.

A possible health problem may have been the cause.

No word on injuries.

City Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

A rollover accident has been reported at the intersection of Walnut and Law streets in the City of Batavia.

City Fire and Mercy EMS have been dispatched.

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A rollover accident has been reported on Prentice Road in the area of Buckley Road.

Stafford Fire and Mercy EMS are being dispatched.

Very minor injuries are reported.

A man who has not been identified at this time was transported to an area hospital this morning after reportedly being kicked in the head by a horse.

The accident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. at 8170 North Pembroke Road, the location of D.J. Stables.

There is no further information about the accident available at this time.

A 37-year-old Batavia man was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC this morning after he apparently drove into a telephone pole and across a field into a brush line.

His car travel another 150 yards after shearing the pole off at its base, leaving behind pieces of his minivan as he continued rolling across the cow pasture.

Luis Gomez was reportedly driving southbound on Read Road when he reached the intersection at Route 33 and allegedly failed to stop for a stop sign and continued straight across Route 33, striking the pole on the other side of the T intersection.

The possibility of drinking and driving has not been ruled out, according to Deputy Ron Meides. (See update below.)

There was a partially consumed 12-pack of beer in the back seating area, though no open cans were visible.

No other people were in the minivan at the time of the accident. No other cars were involved. 

Meides said Gomez was semiconscious as he was being prepared for Mercy Flight transport and was taken to ECMC "for evaluation."

East Pembroke Fire and Mercy EMS answered the initial call, which came in before 8 a.m.

UPDATE10:53 p.m.: Deputy Meides report was just released.  Luis Gomez had a BAC of only .04.  No citations were issued in the accident.  The minivan traveled 329 feet after striking the the utility pole. The home address for Gomez was listed at 20 Thomas Ave., left apartment.

Connecticut law enforcement officials continue to investigate an accident that took the life of a Batavia man and another driver, according to the New London Day.

The Day reports:

Why was Lance Lewis, 36, of Batavia, N.Y., driving his Honda CRV southbound in the northbound lane?

Which ramp did Lewis use to access the highway?

Where was he coming from?

As they continue to investigate the circumstances of the three-car crash, state police are trying to retrace Lewis' steps to find the answers to these and other questions.

State police spokeswoman Kelly Grant said police will contact Lewis' family to try to determine what he was doing in Connecticut and where he was before getting into his car and driving the wrong way on I-95.

On Facebook, Paul Wishman said, "he worked at UPS with us, was on the morning shift loading the trucks." Laura Russell-Ricci identified him as a 1992 graduate of Batavia High.

The Day also posted a picture from the crash  (click link above).

UPDATE Click here for Lewis's obituary.

A medical condition appears to be the cause of an accident Wednesday afternoon that left three poles -- called bollards -- splayed across the sidewalk next to the Oak Street Roundabout.

A 66-year-old woman turned herself in after learning from Attica Police that she had knocked down the bollards. She thought she had merely driven over a curb.

The Batavia woman's doctor recently changed her medication for diabetes and the woman told police she became drowsy.

The Batavian agreed not to release her name because it was a private medical condition and there were no citations issued.

The woman was coming off Pearl Street and drove up onto the curb just before she normally would have entered the roundabout.

The bollards are decorative posts meant to guide traffic along the roundabout. No word on the estimated cost of the damage.

Wikipedia defines bollard:

A bollard is a short vertical post. Originally it only meant a post used on a quay for mooring. The word now also describes a variety of structures to control or direct road traffic, such as posts arranged in a line to obstruct the passage of motor vehicles.

A vehicle has reportedly hit a guardrail and is smoking in the area of 1084 Ledge Road, Basom.

Alabama Fire and Mercy EMS are being dispatched.

Unknown injuries at this time.

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A Batavia man died in a head-on collision in Connecticut yesterday, according to WBZ, A Boston-area TV station.

Lance Lewis, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lewis reportedly was driving the wrong way on I-95 near Norwich.

The driver of the other car, Terrence Garbuzinski, 46, of Attleboro, Mass., also died at the scene.

UPDATE: The Day has a longer story with more details. The Norwich Bulletin reports that Lewis lived at 137 Summit St. He was driving a Honda CRV with New York plates.

Two canoeists were rescued from the Oatka Creek in Le Roy this afternoon after their canoe became marooned on a submerged tree near Wilcox Road.

Neither were injured.

"They were just cold and wet," said 2nd Assistant Chief Tom Wood of the Le Roy Fire Department.

The canoeists apparently couldn't control their canoe in the swift-moving, swollen creek, Wood said.

There was another pair of canoeists out with them and they managed to make it to shore and call 9-1-1.

Le Roy Fire responded and used its ladder truck (also called an aerial truck) to rescue the pair, who have not been identified.

Capt. Thomas Carroll and Firefighter Bill Wood went out on the boom, which was lowered as close as possible to the water, and then a ladder was lowered so the canoeists could climb up.

"People shouldn't be on the water right now," Wood said. "It's going too fast, unless you're a really experienced canoeist."

UPDATE: Photo submitted by a reader.

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Batavia Police are looking for a blue color SUV that lost its wheel well and has damage to its right front bumper after striking sign posts in the roundabout and driving off.

The car was last seen heading south on Walnut Street.

UPDATE: Sign posts weren't struck down -- light poles were -- three of them coming off of Pearl Street into the roundabout. It looks like the driver never even entered the roundabout, but drove through the median coming off of Pearl and onto the parkway, then off onto Walnut. One of the light poles was dragged a good 80 feet.

Byron fire and an ambulance are headed to the scene of an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle at 6943 Warboys Road in Bryon. Minor injuries are reported.

Two cars apparently collided when leaving the tollbooth at the Batavia exit of the Thruway.

Initially, there were injuries reported, but a first responder reports he doesn't believe there are injuries.

There is a fluid leak.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

A motorcyclist has reportedly been struck by a car at the intersection of Ellicott and Otis streets, Batavia.

City Fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

Batavia Fire Department is responding to a reported "transformer explosion" at 61 Walnut St. National Grid has been notified.

UPDATE 2:54 p.m.: The transformer is fine, says the fireman. They are leaving the scene. There are a couple of wires up high there that are dangling or loose. "Mighta been some squirrels," the fireman says, as a possible explanation.

A two-car accident, believed with injuries, has been reported on the Thruway in the area of westbound mile marker 382.

One person has been reportedly dragged from a vehicle and is lying on the ground.

One car is in a ditch.

Mercy Flight is being put on standby.

Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance are responding.

UPDATE 11:54 a.m.: An assistant chief reports one injury, with the patient complaining of neck and back pain.

UPDATE 11:56 a.m.: Mercy Flight cancelled.

A 79-year-old Batavia woman was taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital following a semi-truck vs. car accident at Jackson and Ellicott streets this evening.

The car was apparently flipped over by an 18-wheeler and it landed on its roof, narrowly missing the gas pumps at the Red Apple Kwik Fill.

The driver of the truck, Slawomir Milczek, said he never even saw the car until after he stopped to check his brake lines and saw the vehicle on its roof at the gas station.

“I didn’t see any car," Misezek said.  "I just come here, and ‘oh, my God. The car is in the gas station. What happened?’ I don’t know."

Sgt. John Peck said the initial investigation indicates the driver of the car failed to yield the right-of-way as she turned onto Ellicott from Jackson.

The car, driven by Josephine Barone of Swan Street, was caught under the wheels of the trailer, thrown into a railroad-crossing sign and flipped over onto its roof near the gas pumps.

“I don’t know what her condidtion is, but I did speak to her briefly and she was conscious and alert," Peck said. "I’m sure a lot of it is precautionary, but I don’t know the extent of her injuries.”

Mercy Flight landed in the parking lot of the Salvation Army.

Misezek was emotional and animated as he described the accident to local media (pictured above).

“Then I hear very big noise. Boom." Misezek said. "I think, my air hose is broken. And then I was a stoppen on the railway, so I can’t stop, so I move a little bit forward, OK. And then I was stoppen there. I just went from the truck and ‘what’s going on?’ I didn’t see anything around me."

LISTEN (recommended): Slawomir Milczek describe the accident (mp3).

A motor vehicle accident in downtown Batavia prompted the landing just minutes ago of a Mercy Flight helicopter in the parking lot of the Salvation Army Store on Jackson Street (the old Star Market).

At the accident scene nearby, a car is reported to be on its roof, which required extrication of the occupant(S). Mercy EMS met the helicopter out of Buffalo at the gate of the Salvation Army.

No further details yet.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: The Life Flight helicopter is airborne, bound for Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

A 57-year-old Darien Center man who fell down a flight of stairs in his home and struck his head on a hammer, died this morning at the Erie County Medical Center.

William Thomas was a retired carpet salesman and the father of five children.

The accident occurred around 7 p.m., Tuesday, and Thomas was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC.

For the past 10-and-a-half years, Thomas was married to Marguerite. Together, they have 15 grandchildren.

"(Our time together was) way too short," Marguerite said this afternoon. "We were married right here on our property where we built our log home, right here in Darien Center. This was our dream."

She said Bill's accidental death hasn't really sunk in yet.

"He was a very healthy man," she said. "He loved me beyond belief and I knew that."

She said, "We were glued together."

Thomas served in the Navy in the 1960s, loved to ride his motorcycle and "had the best sense of humor of anybody you would ever want to meet."

There is no information available yet on funeral arrangements.

A car fire is reported at 8534 Seven Springs Road in the Town of Batavia. It is near the railroad tracks. Batavia Fire is responding.