2 unhurt, 3 utility poles damaged in hair-raising Manchester crash

The drivers involved in a Tuesday afternoon crash in Manchester miraculously avoid injuries as a utility pole topples, but the crash closed a stretch of busy Commonwealth Boulevard and kept electricity spotty in the area for hours afterward.

Police, notified at about 2:45 PM, said that Kim M. Mork, 23, of Manchester, was behind the wheel of the 2016 Ford F-150 pickup that veered off westbound Commonwealth near Cumberland Boulevard and sheared the pole. It fell onto an eastbound 2014 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Helen Holland, 84, of Toms River trailing attached wires in its wake.

The impact destroyed the woman's windshield and roof, police said, and bred successive damage to two adjoining poles. Both drivers wore seat restraints, police said.

Authorities did not indicate whether distractions, road or lighting conditions, speed, or impairments were considered, or whether field sobriety tests were administered. The investigation is under the directon of Corporal Douglas Higgins.

Commonweath remained closed from Cumberland to Route 571 to allow all three poles to be replaced. Manchester and Ridgeway Fire Department volunteers responded in addition to police.