15 Year-Old Teen Injured Following Police Pursuit- Yarmouth, MA (07-25-13)

SOUTH YARMOUTH - A juvenile male driver crashed a car into a tree this morning following a police pursuit, trapping him in the car wreck for 45 minutes, police said. Police say they are still piecing together the events that led to the 7:10 a.m. crash on River Street and would not release further details at this time. Residents of the narrow road lined with historic homes off Old Main Street described how a maroon PT Cruiser spun out and slid sideways before striking a tree at 21 River Street. "All I saw was a huge cloud of dust," said Fred Ghioto, of 21 River Street. Then he heard a crash that sounded like a "plane hitting the house," he added. A police officer was at the crash scene in seconds, and he had his gun drawn, Ghioto said. Because of the timing of police presence and the sound of sirens right before the crash, it appeared that the cruiser was following the young man, Ghioto said. Deputy Police Chief Steven Xiarhos said he is trying to get the sequence of events together before commenting. The officer approached the PT Cruiser cautiously, yelling to the driver to show his hands, Ghioto said. The driver eventually put his hands within sight of the officer, and then the officer's demeanor completely changed, Ghioto said. "As soon as he realized there was no violent threat, he put his gun away and went into rescue mode," Ghioto said. "The kid was yowling in pain," and the officer started to calm him down, Ghioto said. It took rescuers 45 minutes to get the driver out of the car, using two sets of the Jaws of Life hydraulic rescue tool, chains, "come-a-longs" and Sawzalls, according a Yarmouth Fire Department press release. He was then taken by ambulance to Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School where a MedFlight helicopter flew him to a Boston hospital. At least one mail box was knocked down, and the shoulder of the road was gouged with tire tracks. Skid marks showed how the vehicle veered from one side of the street to the other before the car hit the tree. capecodonline.com