An Oxford man was thrown from his Jeep Wrangler during a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer truck on Route 67 Wednesday evening.
Sean Blatchley, 27 of Condon Road in Oxford, was listed in stable condition Thursday at Waterbury Hospital.
The crash occurred just before 11 p.m. Wednesday (May 9) near the Route 67 Professional Center north of the road’s intersection with Old State Road.
According to an accident report at the Oxford Resident Trooper’s office, Blatchley was driving north when, “for unknown reasons,” he crossed the double-yellow line and struck a tractor-trailer driven by Joseph Mudlock, 58, of Wilkes Barre, Pa.
Blatchley “suffered substantial injuries during vehicle impact and his subsequent ejection from his vehicle,” the accident report says. The report describes Blatchley’s internal and external injuries as “incapacitating.” The report says Blatchley was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
He was treated at the scene by Oxford Ambulance and taken to Waterbury Hospital.
Mudlock complained at the scene of “body pain” and was treated by Oxford Ambulance and taken to Waterbury Hospital.
Both vehicles suffered heavy damage in the crash, as did an area of curbing and landscaping at the professional center.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also responded to the scene to assist the clean-up of fuel spilled during the crash.
Police are investigating the accident.
Two Other Crashes
The head-on collision was the third crash on Route 67 in Oxford this week.
Earlier Wednesday, a two-car crash just north of the intersection of Route 67 and Chestnut Tree Hill Road sent five area residents to the hospital with minor injuries.
That accident occurred about 1:36 p.m. May 9, according to police, when a car driven by Shakiea Price, 29, of Waterbury, was headed north and tried to pass a car driven by Mario Cardona, 53, of Great Hill Road in Seymour.
Price’s vehicle struck Cardona’s as Cardona tried to make a left-hand turn into a turnaround lane along the road’s southbound side.
Cardona and four passengers of Price’s car — Joan Horton, 67, of Oxford Road, Oxford; Jean Langona, 53, of Asbury Lane, Shelton; Jill Rapp, 52, of Old Good Hill Road, Oxford; and Courtney Lupia, 35, of Oakwood Drive, Oxford — were taken to Waterbury Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, according to police.
Police issued Price an infraction for unsafe passing.
On May 8, police arrested an Oxford man after he allegedly caused a crash near Route 67 and Great Hill Road and then drove off.
Police said George Jack, 55, of Middlefield Road, was driving north on Route 67 and was trying to turn left onto Great Hill Road when his car was struck by a vehicle driven by Marie Cifatte, 71, of Greenwood Circle in Seymour. Cifatte complained of pain but refused medical treatment at the scene, according to police.
After both vehicles came to rest, police said, Jack drove off. Oxford Resident State Trooper Dan Semosky said police followed tire marks from the scene to Jack’s house about sixth-tenths of a mile away.
Jack was charged with making an improper turn, evading responsibility, and reckless driving. He was held in lieu of $5,000 bond and arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Wednesday, where a judge released him on a written promise to appear in court next month.
