A passenger suffered serious bodily injury, a driver was charged with DUI and negligent operation and two buildings were seriously damaged in an accident that occurred in Waitsfield Village on 12:45am on Sunday, November 23.
Vermont State Police Trooper Trooper Jae Farnum-Boylan reported that Eric McCarthy, 45 of Essex, Vermont was traveling north on Route 100 in a 2016 BMW 335i when his car left the roadway and struck the business sign, porch steps and northern end of the front porch of Darrad Services on the east side of Route 100. The car went airborne, traveling north and east where it struck and became embedded in a red two-story building in the Bridge Street Marketplace.
That building, owned by Kellee Mazer, Waitsfield, housed woodworker Matt Sargent on the second floor and Bridge and Main, a retail and massage business owned by Jen Service on the first/ground floor.
McCarthy’s passenger, Katylyn Ruhl, Colchester was extricated from the vehicle by the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service (MRVAS), and transported to Central Vermont Medical Center,
Kevin VanSchaick, MRVAS rescue chief said that when the rescue crew arrived they braced the weight of the car with rescue struts so that it did not sink further into the building, collapsing more of the floor which also made it safe enough for his team to enter and extricate Ruhl and free McCarthy.
“We entered from the second floor, from the double doors which we had to remove because they opened inward and the car was blocking them from opening. Then we cut the seat out to get to her so we could transport her,” VanSchaick said.
The car was removed from the building by Charlesbois wrecking service which used a tail hook wrecker to lift the car out, state police said.
“I’m just thankful everybody is okay,” said Mazer, who is now sorting through the aftermath of closing up her building, insurance, her tenants and the repair process.
“Jen’s office area was damaged, where the car went through was her work space, but not her shop and massage area. Matt’s work area was damaged. We were able to get Jeremiah Rutledge to temporarily close the wall. If the fire marshal deems it safe, we’ll work on getting a temporary wall up for Jen so she can get back to business for the holidays.
At Darrad Services next door, where Alex Darr and his father Dave Darr run their business – and where Alex lives upstairs – the business sign and front stairwell were destroyed and the impact threw wood splinters from the sign through the front porch stiles, Alex Darr said.
“For now we’re going to work on moving the entrance to the back of the building and getting this cleaned up,” he said, adding that when he first heard the crash he thought it was thunder. He said it was an amazing that no one died in the crash.
