One Driver Charged, Another Fell Asleep in Separate Halloween Crashes

A couple of utility poles were damaged, a number of Hamilton residents lost power and one person was charged, but no one was seriously injured in two separate Halloween crashes in Hamilton.

The first crash occurred just before 4 p.m. on Oct. 31. The driver in that crash, Joseph S. Scuderi, 74, of Hamilton, told police he fell asleep and crashed into a utility pole on Upper Asbury Street, according to the Town of Hamilton blog. Scuderi was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

Crews worked until Sunday morning to repair the utility pole that snapped when Scuderi struck it, cutting power to a handful of Hamilton residents for several hours.

A few hours later, according to a police report, 18-year-old Andrew F. Zwart, of Essex was intoxicated when he crashed into a pole on Sagamore Street at 8:56 p.m. That crash took out power to a couple hundred residents, according to the National Grid power outage map.

Zwart wasn’t injured in the crash, but police charged him with operating under the influence of liquor, operating to endanger and a marked lanes violation. He was released o personal recognizance and scheduled to appear at Ipswich District Court.