Dump truck crashes into stone wall on Hawks Nest

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(Additional photos below) (c)

DEERPARK – A dump truck driver escaped what could have been fatal results in an accident in the town of Deerpark on Thursday morning. The crash happened on a steep, winding section of Route 97 known as the Hawks Nest, just after 8 a.m.

The driver of the construction vehicle, which is owned by TAM Enterprises of Goshen, lost control of his truck due to a steering failure, according to initial police reports. The vehicle then struck a cut stone on the mountain side of the road and was thrown across the road. It then struck a rock face bordering a steep ledge above the Delaware River.

The front wheels of the truck came to rest through the rock face and extended over the ledge. He did not continue forward, or over the cliff.

“It was nothing a man could have done,” said Deerpark Police Chief Richard Sztyndor, assessing the location of the truck stop. “It could only have happened with the help of a higher power.”

The stretch of road runs along a 305-foot bluff, overlooking the Delaware River below. If the vehicle had continued a few inches further, it probably would not have been able to be towed from the wall and back down Route 97 by the Prestige tow.

The Sparrowbush Engine Company commanded operations on the scene, assisted by the Port Jervis Fire Department for traffic control. State Police assisted Deerpark Police on the call.

Sztyndor said the driver complained of pain in his arms and was taken by ambulance to hospital for evaluation.

No tickets were issued and staff from the New York Department of Transportation were at the scene, placing barriers through the hole in the rock face as the investigation continued.


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