[soliloquy id="6967"]
ROCKLAND, DELAWARE (4/26/2015) A driver was trapped in a car for 35 minutes this morning after he was involved in a collision involving two other vehicles, went airborne and struck the stone wall at the entrance to Nemours/A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children, according to reports from the scene.
The initial crash happened about 9:30 a.m. at Route 141 and Children’s Drive.
A 2003 Chevrolet Impala then traveled about 500 feet, knocking down a wooden pole, numerous bushes and a traffic control box before it left the ground and struck the stone wall at Rockland Road and Children’s Drive.
The driver, Manuel Fernandez, 41, of Media, Pennsylvania, was extricated by Talleyville firefighters and treated on the scene by New Castle County paramedics before being flown to Christiana Hospital by a Delaware State Police helicopter. State police said he was treated and released.
Police said the crash began as John Dimarzio, 65, of Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, was driving a 2015 Hyundai south on Route 141 with a green light. At the same time, Fernandez failed to stop his Impala at a red light and struck the front center of the Hyundai.
The Hyundai spun around and struck the front of a 2008 Dodge Caliber stopped in the northbound left turn lane of Route 141. Neither Dimarzio nor the driver of the Dodge, Brandy M. Keenan, 34, of Wilmington, were injured.
Fernandez was cited by police with inattentive driving, failure to stop at a red light, driving without a valid license and no proof of insurance.
Traffic was affected about an hour as police investigated and the traffic control box was repaired.