A Fallsburg man driving a vehicle caused a series of accidents on Route 42 late Thursday afternoon – sideswiping a township-owned vehicle, smashing into a Fallsburg Police cruise, then going airborne and hitting another two parked cars.

Fire Rescue personnel needed to extricate the 66-year-old Fallsburg resident from his Buick, which had eventually struck a tree and ended up upside-down of a minivan. 

Fallsburg Police Chief Simmy Williams told YWN that the man was flown via chopper to a Trauma Center. Chief Williams also told YWN that Officer Randy Yates was resting comfortably at the Catskill Regional Medical Center. All his injuries were minor.

According to a report by the Times Herald Record, the chain-event accident started after the Buick sideswiped the town of Fallsburg assessor’s car on Statton Hill Road, just off Route 42. Initially the cars stopped, but then the driver, for an unknown reason, drove rapidly down a short hill into the intersection of Route 42, smashing into the patrol car, which just happened to be driving along Route 42.

The Buick went airborne for about 10 yards and sailed over a short wooden wall and into a gravel parking lot, where a Lexus SUV and a Mustang were parked.

The Buick smashed into the Lexus, ripping off most of its back end, spinning it around and hurling it several yards. The Buick then kept going for about 40 yards, smashing into a Mustang and a tree before winding up on top of the minivan.

The driver told a NY State Trooper that his brakes had failed.

Chief Williams told YWN that an investigation is underway, and further information will be posted as it becomes available.

(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN / YWN-112 / Sullivan County News Desk)