Cruiser Leaves Hole in the WallBy Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
08:20PM / Sunday, April 27, 2008
 | | A North Adams Police cruiser went through the wall of the River Street Package Store around midnight Friday. |
NORTH ADAMS — The Loras — older and younger — were getting plenty of drive-by comments on Saturday afternoon as they boarded up the cruiser-size hole in the side of Joseph Lora III's building on River Street.
"You can see where he hit," said Joseph Lora Jr., pointing into the vacant space. On the far side, the plasterboard was buckled about bumper-height.
"It looks like a drive-through," yelled a motorcyclist in a cheery voice as he roared through the intersection.
"Everybody going by has a comment," said Lora with sigh.
The hole was caused by a North Adams Police cruiser that crashed into the building on the corner of Houghton and River streets.
According to reports, the officer was on his way to an accident reported on Massachusetts Avenue before midnight on Friday when he went up over the curb and smashed through the side of the building to avoid hitting a fire truck.
Lora said he had been told the officer had to choose between hitting a vehicle and hitting a building — and he chose the building.
Officer Zachary Wood was heading west on River Street when he saw the tanker truck turning left onto River from Marshall Street, Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco told the North Adams Transcript.
Wood was not seriously hurt, Morocco told the Transcript. He suffered lacerations on his face and knees and hit his head; he was taken to North Adams Regional Hospital.
The fire truck apparently didn't see the cruiser crash and continued to the reported accident, where John A. Sumner, 51, of Dugan Street had collided with a utility pole.
Morocco told the Transcript that excessive speed was not a factor in Wood's accident and was concerned that the airbag in the 2006 Chevrolet Impala had not deployed.
There were no skid marks leading up to the two-story, wood-frame structure, but the granite curbing was scraped from where it had been pulled out by a wrecker in the early morning hours Saturday.
The building contains two commercial spaces on the first floor— the River Street Package Store and a space that borders Houghton that has been vacant for some years.
The cruiser hit directly on a plate-glass window and half wall. A couple of feet to the left and the car would have hit the main supports for the catty-cornered doorway, likely causing more damage to car, the driver and the building.
Lora answer to what they'll do was direct: they're going to fix it. But, for now, a few sheets of plywood have blocked up the empty space.
Updated on April 28, 2008.
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