A 19-year-old man is dead after he tried to flee from police and ended up in a serious airborne collision course through a Belchertown neighborhood, damaging multiple cars and smashing holes into two homes, according to Massachusetts State Police.
At 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20, a State Police trooper tried to pull over a 2011 Nissan Altima on Route 202 in Belchertown, the department said. The driver sped off down the road and ran a red light at the intersection with Route 9, police said.
Police said the driver did not see the road curve towards the left and drove off on the righthand side. The car then hit a bed of mulch and was airborne, police said.
First, the car hit a rock wall and then a large tree, police said. The airborne Nissan then hit a light post before smashing into the front end of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler parked at a house at 79 North Main St., and finally stopped when it hit the outside of the home, police said.
The driver, an unidentified 19-year-old man, was ejected from the car at some point in the crash, police said, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Because of the impact, police said the Nissan’s engine was launched out of the car and into another home at 73 North Main St., landing through the brick exterior wall inside the home.
None of the people inside either home was injured, police said, and there were no passengers inside the Nissan when it crashed. A car parked next to the Jeep, a 2020 Buick Envision, was also damaged in the crash, police said.
Multiple law enforcement divisions are investigating the crash, including members of the State Police-Belchertown Barracks, its Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, its Crime Scene Services Section along with the detective unit for the Hampshire and Franklin counties.
