A damaged 2016 Freightliner comes to a rest after wreaking havoc and killing one in Milford July 29. (
)
An out of control tractor trailer leaves a trail of destruction July 28 on West Hartford Street in Milford. (
)
An out of control tractor trailer leaves a trail of destruction July 28 on West Hartford Street in Milford. (
)
An out of control tractor trailer leaves a trail of destruction July 28 on West Hartford Street in Milford. (
)
The Tacoma driven by Mark Strouse shows damage after the crash. (
)
The Tacoma driven by Mark Strouse shows damage after the crash. (
)
One person died and others were injured last week when an out-of-control tractor trailer slammed into vehicles on West Hartford Street in Milford Borough.
State police said that shortly before 4 p.m. on July 29, the driver of a blue 2006 Freightliner tractor trailer traveling south on West Hartford Street lost control near the Seventh Street intersection. This resulted in the Freightliner striking a vehicle near 301 West Harford St. and then others as it continued heading south. Laine Matthews, 75, of Levittown, sustained fatal injuries and others sustained injuries.
Milford resident Wendy Strouse and her husband, Mark, survived the ordeal as they were driving in a blue Tacoma.
“As we were pulling out of Citizens Bank and making a left to go to the post office, a tractor trailer hit us in the rear coming off Route 6,” Strouse said. “Mark put on the brakes but [the tractor trailer] pushed us down the road with his tire on the left side. We saw people screaming, and as we were pushed to the right we hit a lamp post and stopped just before a big maple tree. The truck then hit a car in front of us.”
The experience – which resulted in injuries to Wendy and her husband – was terrifying.
“I thought we were going to die,” Strouse said. “A woman was parked and her car was in the same position as ours. When we got out, Mark had cuts down his arms and knee from the window busting out. We heard an older man crying, ‘My wife, my wife!’ He was in a store so we went over to try to get her out, but the doors wouldn’t open, so another guy broke the window. She was partly in the back of the car. Mark and I just hugged each other and thanked God we were still alive.”
The ordeal, the cause of which remains under investigation according to police, also resulted in downed wires and blown transformers. Police identified the driver of the semi as Wilmar A. Gonzalez-Juarez of Central Islip, N.Y.
“We heard he lost his brakes, but it is still under investigation,” Strouse said. “It looked like a horror movie. My new song from now on will be Jesus take the wheel.”
“It looked like a horror movie. My new song from now on will be Jesus take the wheel.” Wendy Strouse