Three truck crashes in 2 hours in Newton

NEWTON – Three separate truck accidents were reported within two hours Tuesday afternoon.

At 2:37 p.m., a truck being driven by Anthony Brigante, 47, of the Sussex County Transfer Corp in Sparta, struck a utility pole while attempting to back into a driveway on Ryerson Avenue to load a roll-off container.

The impact caused power lines to snap and fall into the roadway but the pole was not damaged or dislodged, police said.

The Newton Fire Department assisted with traffic control and maintained scene safety while JCP&L responded to repair the downed lines.

Less than an hour later, a tractor trailer driven by Derick Pratt, 33, from Greensboro N.C., attempted to turn right from Woodside Avenue onto Sparta Avenue and struck the traffic light pole, police said.

The impact caused the traffic signal and pole to fall on top of the trailer.

The Sussex County Department of Public Works responded to remove the light and provided traffic assistance along with the Newton Fire Department.

Traffic was diverted for approximately 3 hours until the roadway could be cleared. The driver of the tractor trailer was issued a summons for careless driving, police said.

At 4:33 p.m., Grigoriy Shmygelskiy, 33 of Brooklyn, N.Y., was operating a tractor trailer southbound on Water Street when a bundle of aluminum beams broke free inside the trailer and crashed through the rear door, landing in the southbound lane of Water Street, police said.

No other vehicles were involved or damaged in the incident.

The Newton Fire Department and DPW responded and assisted at the scene to help secure the load and clear the roadway to ease traffic congestion. Officers determined that the incident was caused by the mechanical failure of the load bars inside the trailer, police said.

The last unit cleared the scene at approximately 5:20 p.m.