By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — An adult pedestrian was struck by a dump truck and killed near downtown Newport on Wednesday afternoon, and while information is limited, the crash is under investigation by police.
On Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. the Newport Police and Fire Departments responded to the intersection of Central Street and Sunapee Street for the report of a motor vehicle accident involving a dump truck and a pedestrian.
The Newport Fire Department transported the patient to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center but was later pronounced dead. The pedestrian’s identity is being withheld while next of kin is notified.
“Newport Fire Department did their best to try to save the victim, but ultimately died at the hospital,” Detective Sgt. Alexander Marvin said.
Marvin explained that these investigations are very complicated when it comes to the crash scene because there is there is the crash investigation and a parallel criminal investigation. The N.H. State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction (CAR) unit is managing the accident portion and Newport Police is handling whether there was any criminal wrongdoing.
“At this point all possibilities are on the table,” he said. “We are looking into each avenue that led up to this and the reasons for the collision. We’ve collected evidence that we hope sheds some light on the circumstances.”
Whenever there is a case like this, police canvass the area by talking to neighbors, eyewitnesses, and collecting Ring camera footage. He said nowadays most houses and businesses are equipped with cameras, which are oftentimes the best evidence they collect. Many vehicles are also like “giant computers,” and retain just as much, or more, information than a cell phone.
“There will be some pretty good clues, but also this happened right downtown in the middle of the day, with quite a few witnesses,” Marvin said. “There are people who saw what happened and their information is invaluable.”
Marvin could not release the name of the company but said the dump truck was not owned by any municipality.
“No arrests have been at this time, however at the completion of this investigation all materials will be reviewed by the county attorney to determine if charges will be filed,” he said.
Newport School Superintendent Donna Magoon posted on social media at about 4 p.m. letting the community know that there was an accident on Sunapee Street adjacent to the Richards School playground, and as a result the road was closed from Main Street to Summer Street indefinitely. She asked travelers to plan accordingly if the typical route involved that section of Sunapee Street.
A firefighter at the Newport Fire Department declined to comment, deferring to Chief Steve Yannuzzi.
Yannuzzi said the cooperation between the police and fire departments was on full display. Everyone knows that this was an intense scene and it was clear to him that the personnel were there to get the job done. This included taking on roles they wouldn’t normally have and working together collectively.
Any type of incident like this is intense for everyone involved, and it is important to remember these are members of a small community who were either there to witness the tragedy or respond to it.
Yannuzzi, who was at the scene himself, has reached out to each individual responder in the fire department on Thursday to check on their wellbeing. He also called down to the police station and talked with Sgt. Marvin to see how they were all doing. Responders can be amped up with adrenaline from the call initially, but the day after is when things start to really sink in about what had occurred.
“This takes a mental toll on the responder,” Yannuzzi said. “Even those who have been on the job for a long time, they may seem like it isn’t bothering them, but stuff is cumulative. That’s where my primary concern is today.”
Anyone with information about the collision, or witnessed it, is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Marvin at 603-863-3232 or [email protected].
