DRIVER FLEES SCENE, SOUGHT
Early Morning Hit, Run
Shakes Up Phoenix Mills
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
PHOENIX MILLS – State police are seeking the driver of a grey 2009 Ford who they say fled the scene after a noisy crash at 4:46 a.m. today on Route 33 at the south end of this Town of Middlefield hamlet.
Neighbors say everyone woke with a jolt. They estimated the driver must have been going 80 mph.
A so-far unknown person was operating the Ford when it went off the road, hit a parked 2011 Hyundai Elantra belonging to neighbor Michael Wilsey, snapped a telephone pole and knocked down a mailbox, according to Aga Dembinska, Troop C public relations officer.
The driver then fled on foot, she said.
It appeared from muddy tracks on the west side of the road that the car skidded across the shoulder – dropping a front bumper and other parts along the way – and went down a bank, although it had been removed as of this morning.
State Police searched the woods near the area and checked with local hospitals, but had not yet found the driver by mid-morning today. The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with any information can call (607) 561-7400.