SUTTON, MASS. (WHDH) - One man is under arrest and another is grateful to be alive after a wrong-way crash that shut down a highway in Sutton Wednesday afternoon.
Peter Orsi, of North Brookfield, says he was traveling along Route 146 northbound in his pickup truck when he was suddenly found himself face-to-face with a sedan that was speeding toward him.
“He was just coming at me so fast,” Orsi said. “It was literally a split second before he hit me. I can’t be happier that I’m standing here talking to you.”
Brandon Walden, 20, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, was arrested at the scene, according to police. He has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, possession of class B and E substances, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and driving the wrong way on a state highway.
Neither Orsi or Walden were seriously hurt in the crash.
Orsi says he swerved left into a center median as soon he saw the car to avoid a head-on collision.
“When they guy veered off, I saw him coming at me and I said ‘what the hell is this guy doing,'” he said. “I swerved to the left as hard as I could and purposely hit the center instead of going head-on into him.”
Orsi says Walden was traveling at about 40 mph before the two crashed.
The highway has since been reopened.
An investigation is ongoing.
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