Early Morning Crash

Closes Route 25 For 12 Hours

By Andrew Gorosko

A local man was reported in good condition Thursday morning in Danbury Hospital following an accident early Wednesday morning, in which he and a passenger were injured. The sports car they were traveling in struck a utility pole on Mt Pleasant Road near Reservoir Road.

 Motorist Shaun McLean, 22, of Unit 1 at Meadowbrook Terrace Mobile Home Park, 55 Sugar Street, was reported in good condition in the hospital. Police said McLean suffered facial cuts in the crash.

Thomas Montague, 22, of 64 Osborn Hill Road, Sandy Hook, who was a passenger in the auto, was treated at the hospital Wednesday and then released. Police said Montague received a cut on his head in the crash.

The accident caused the closure of sections of Mt Pleasant for more than 12 hours, as utility crews worked to restore electrical, telephone, and cable television service to affected residences near the accident scene.

Police closed Mt Pleasant Road to through-traffic on the road section between the intersection of Mt Pleasant Road and Currituck Road in the town center and the intersection of Mt Pleasant Road and Hawleyville Road in Hawleyville. That section of Mt Pleasant Road also is known US Route 6 and Connecticut Route 25.

That lengthy section of road normally carries heavy traffic. It was, however, eerily quiet during the first half of Wednesday as police staffed barricades at either end of the closed road. Police allowed motorists who needed to get into that residential area, or out of it, access to and from homes there, based on an elaborate system of limited road barricades.

Police diverted the through-traffic, which normally would travel on that road section, onto Currituck Road, which temporarily served as link between the town center and Hawleyville.

Work crews from the Connecticut Light and Power Company, Southern New England Telephone Company, and Charter Communications worked until about 1:30 pm Wednesday to restore electrical, telephone, and cable television service, respectively, to the area.

In their account of the accident, police said that McLean was driving a 1998 Mitsubishi 3000-GT sports coupe eastbound on Mt Pleasant Road, just east of Reservoir Road, about 1 am when the auto exited the right side of the road, struck an embankment and then struck a utility pole, snapping the pole. The Mitsubishi then rolled onto its left side.

Police said McLean told them he did not remember the accident.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported both men to Danbury Hospital. Newtown Hook and Ladder firefighters went to the accident scene.

 Police said McLean made a restricted turn. Officer Phil Hynes investigated the crash.