Driver Airlifted Following Crash Near Pittsfield-Lanesborough Line

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A 67-year-old man was airlifted to Baystate Medical Center with life-threatening injuries early Wednesday morning after his SUV collided with a tractor-trailer near 500 Cheshire Rd.

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, at approximately 3:46 AM, the Pittsfield Police Department, Pittsfield Fire Department and Action Ambulance were called to the area of 500 Cheshire Rd, just south of the Lanesborough town line, for a report of a motor vehicle accident with injuries.

Upon arrival, officers found a GMC Terrain had collided with an empty flatbed tractor trailer belonging to Unistress Corporation.

Initial investigation showed that the GMC Terrain, being operated by a 67-year- old man, had been traveling southbound on Cheshire Rd and collided with the empty flatbed tractor trailer, that was crossing the road, lodging the SUV underneath it. This tractor trailer was being operated by a 53-year-old Dalton resident at the time.

The operator of the GMC Terrain was transported to Berkshire Medical Center with life threatening injuries and later airlifted to Baystate Medical Center due to the severity of the injuries. The operator of the tractor trailer unit was not injured in the collision.

Based on the location of the crash, Cheshire Rd did not need to be closed down.

The Pittsfield Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Massachusetts State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section.

The accident remains under investigation by the Pittsfield Police Traffic Unit. Anyone who may have witnessed the accident or may have witnessed this vehicle traveling on Cheshire Rd shortly before the accident is asked to contact Sergeant David Hallas at 448-9700 Ext. 560 or Officer Brandon Gallagher at Ext. 549

 


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Kratom Products Pulled From Pittsfield, Statewide Shelves

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires.com Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The state has put an emergency yearlong order on kratom products, and Pittsfield is working with retailers to remove the product from shelves. 

Last week, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi delivered an update on the emergency order that went into effect on August 28.  Also known by its chemical name and marketed with the term "7-OH," Massachusetts temporarily designated kratom as a Schedule I drug, greatly restricting sales. 

The formerly unregulated product has resulted in emergency room visits, poison control calls, and deaths.  

"Dependency and the opioid-like withdrawal symptoms are the major key health concerns," Cambi explained. "Liver toxicity, seizures, just a greater overdose risk when combined with other substances, and then the main thing is that this is not regulated."

He said that throughout the years, retail shops have reached out to the Health Department looking for guidance on kratom products and were notified that it is unregulated. 

"And for the most part, when they hear that, they don't sell the product," he added. 

Kratom is a leafy plant native to Southeast Asia containing naturally occurring substances, including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH).  It is marketed to relieve pain and can produce stimulating or sedating effects, depending on the amount taken and potency. Newer products contain highly concentrated or laboratory-modified compounds that can have significantly stronger opioid-like effects. 

Kratom products have been widely sold in smoke shops, convenience stores, and gas stations as powders, tablets, capsules, gummies, dissolvable strips, and in other forms.

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