By Doug La Rocque
Grafton Fire and EMS received a call Saturday morning, May 26 reporting a vehicle rollover with entrapment. They arrived to find an eastbound Dodge Pickup had left the road, going over a small stonewall, glancing off a National Grid pole and a tree, overturning and bouncing roof first on a house at 2454 Route 2, and coming to rest in the back of the residence on its wheels. Although the driver escaped serious injury, firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate him from his vehicle.
Miraculously, the homeowner was unhurt, even though he had been sitting outside of his garage, with the crashing truck missing him by only a few feet. Ben Nobes tells The Eastwick Press, he heard a loud bang, and looked up to see the truck flying across his lawn right in front of him.
Investigating Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Deputies say the driver reported blacking out just before the mishap. He was transported to Albany Medical Center by the Grafton Rescue Squad for evaluation.
While the damage to the outside of the Nobes residence did not look significant, the inside wall was blown out. Building Inspector Tom Withcuskey determined the building’s structural integrity had not been compromised, and Mr. Nobes was allowed to return to his residence.