Rochester Police have brought charges against the driver involved in a serious crash on Neck Road Tuesday evening. Police filed charges today in Wareham District Court against 20-year-old Joshua A. Demoranville of Wareham Street in Middleboro for speeding, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop for police, and failure to stay in marked lanes.
Demoranville was clocked southbound on Neck Road by radar at 100 MPH by Officer Kevin Flynn who was on routine patrol headed in the opposite direction. Officer Flynn activated his blue lights but Demoranville continued past the cruiser without slowing. Officer Flynn started to turn around on the narrow causeway and lost sight of the vehicle as it rounded a slight bend in the road. He then observed a bright flash and when he completed his turn and drove around the bend, he saw that the vehicle had sheared off a telephone pole, rolled over and come to rest right side up next to another pole.
Demoranville had been ejected from the vehicle and was on the ground approximately 30 feet away while passenger Antone Arruda was still in the vehicle attempting to get out. Neither were alert enough to tell police how many people were in the vehicle. The officer called for assistance and began to render aid.
As additional personnel arrived on the scene, they located a third passenger later identified as Samuel Pike who had been ejected from the vehicle and thrown over 175 feet away from the crash into a field on the opposite side of the street. Police dispatch also received an anonymous call about a man in the woods near the crash and began searching for a possible fourth victim with the assistance of several other agencies. The search did not turn up anyone and through investigative efforts and statements from victims at the hospital, police were able to confirm there were only three occupants.
Investigating officer Kevin Flynn learned that the three men were headed to see a crash site about a mile away on Neck Road which occurred the night before involving their friends. In that crash, two vehicles were racing across the Neck Road causeway southbound and clocked by police on radar at 77 MPH. The area where the vehicles were clocked is residential and posted at 40 MPH and is the same spot where Demoranville was clocked at100 MPH.
The officer pulled out to attempt to stop the vehicles but both fled. Approximately 1 mile further south on Neck Road the officer located one of the speeding vehicles which had left the roadway and crashed into a tree. The crash caused extensive damage to the vehicle and police discovered that the operator fled the scene. Officers followed footprints from the crash scene and located two juveniles, a 17-year-old male and 14-year-old female, both from Middleboro in a nearby yard.
The male was placed under arrest for failure to stop for police. Both were transported to Tobey Hospital by ambulance. The male was later released and transported to the Rochester Police Station for booking. He was charged with racing a motor vehicle, reckless operation, failure to stop for police, junior operator passenger restriction, and leaving the scene of an accident. The male admitted he was racing another vehicle but claimed he did not know the identity of the driver who he claimed challenged him to a race. Police are still working to identify the driver of the other vehicle that got away.
Police have filed paperwork with the Registry of Motor Vehicles to immediately suspend the licenses of the drivers involved in both crashes. Rochester Police Chief Paul Magee is also issuing a stern warning to the friends of those involved that his department will not tolerate any reckless driving. “We will be out in force running radar to ensure the safety of other drivers. Race in Rochester and you will lose your license.”
Rochester Police Department Press Release
