Stonington police officer, bystanders rescue truck driver

Stonington ― Police Officer Julia Rich and three bystanders are being commended for pulling a driver out of a box truck that crashed into a landscaping truck Tuesday morning on Route 2 in Pawcatuck and rolled over.

Deputy Chief Todd Olson said the box truck carrying food came off the Exit 92 off-ramp of northbound Interstate 95 about 7:15 a.m. and struck a dump truck towing a landscaping trailer owned by A & J Landscaping of North Stonington. A car was also struck.

The box truck was knocked on its side and was smoking. Olson said Rich was the first officer on the scene and with the help of bystanders helped the driver out through the broken windshield.

Rich, a 2019 graduate of Stonington High School, became a police officer here last summer. Her father is Ledyard Police Chief John Rich.

“The bystanders and Officer Rich all did a terrific job,” Olson said.

He said five people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Firefighters from the Pawcatuck, Wequetequock and North Stonington departments along with state and local police and the Stonington, Westerly and North Stonington ambulance companies responded to the crash which closed the road for several hours.