Driver in school van crash critical
LOWER POTTSGROVE >> A driver was critically injured Tuesday after an accident involving a school van was reported on East High Street.
Lower Pottsgrove Police were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash, with injuries and entrapment, in front of Bradley Tire, 3000 E. High St.
Officers arrived and found a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck, being driven by Joseph Paolino, 36, of Pottstown, partially in the center lane, facing northeast at an angle and blocking the westbound lane of East High Street.
Resting against the passenger side of the Ford was a yellow GMC passenger school van also facing northeast and blocking the rest of the westbound lane of East High Street, police said.
Glass and vehicles parts were
scattered across all three lanes of East High Street at the scene, according to police. The Ford pickup had severe front-end damage, police said. The yellow GMC van had severe driver’s side damage.
Officers confirmed the driver of the van, Ronald L. Stetler,75, of Boyertown, was entrapped and could not exit his vehicle. No one else was inside the school van at the time of the crash.
The driver of the Ford was out of his vehicle and uninjured, according to police. Fire, EMS and rescue units were responded to the scene to free the trapped driver of the van.
Police closed East High Street, between Rupert Road and Sanatoga Road until the accident was cleared and their on-scene investigation was concluded.
The van involved was owned by Pottsgrove School District. The driver of the van, Stetler, sustained critical injuries and was transported to Pottstown Hospital and later transferred via medical helicopter to Reading Hospital Trauma Center in West Reading.
Officer James McCue, the Lower Pottsgrove Police Department’s accident reconstructionist, and Sgt. Timothy Walters are continuing to investigate the crash.
Preliminary findings indicate the school van entered the roadway, East High Street, from the area of Shaners Trailer Park, in front of the eastbound pickup, according to police.