BELCHERTOWN, MASS. (WHDH) - A 19-year-old man died Sunday after a crash that also damaged a home and multiple cars in Belchertown, state police said.
The crash happened on Sunday night. On Monday, the owners of the home that was damaged spoke with 7NEWS about the incident.
“It sounded like a bomb going off,” said homeowner Trevor Sims. “I didn’t know what it was.”
State police in a statement said a trooper first tried to stop the 19-year-old driver of a Nissan Altima around 8:45 p.m. on the southbound side of Route 202. Police said the driver sped away.
Citing a preliminary investigation, police said the car appeared to have later hit a mulch bed further down Route 202 and launched into the air before hitting a rock wall, a large tree and a light post.
The crash, police said, ejected the driver from his car and threw the car’s engine block into the second floor of Sims’ home. Two parked cars in the area were also damaged.
Police said the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no passengers in the car that fled the initial traffic stop and police said no one was injured in the home that was damaged.
Sims said he had just sat down to eat at his kitchen table when he felt the impact on his 200-year-old historic home. Upstairs, he said he soon found the car’s smoking engine block in a second-floor bathroom.
“You wouldn’t think that would happen to anybody,” he said. “I didn’t think that would happen to me at any time.”
Sims and his mother-in-law got out of the house as Sims’ wife, Donna, rushed home.
“It’s shocking and I can’t even imagine,” Donna Sims said. “It’s not even real.”
Sad for the loss of life in the crash, Donna and Trevor Sims were together counting their blessings on Monday for the fact that they are both okay.
“We’ll salvage what we can and then just go forward and try to get what we can out of the house,” Donna said.
The crash shifted the Sims’ house itself, leaving it in danger of collapse Monday. Now, Trevor and Donna Sims have been told it could take up to six months before they’re able to move back into their home.
The crash remained under investigation on Monday.
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