SAUGUS — A 64-year-old Saugus man was injured after crashing his car into a utility pole and home on Essex Street Friday morning, Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli said.
The crash, which was reported at approximately 10:15 a.m., caused the pole to snap and fall to the ground and damaged the front porch of a home at 100 Essex St. No one was inside the home at the time, police said.
The driver was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but Saugus fire officials said the outcome could have been much worse.
Fire Capt. Richard Porter said the driver of the car, a 2021 Nissan Sentra, was lucky — if the deck’s proportions were slightly different, he could have been killed.
“The hood was crumpled all the way into the driver compartment,” added Fire Chief Michael Newbury, who said the driver was shaken up from the crash. “The airbags did a good job (of) saving him.”
Porter said that the fire department heard the crash and responded to the incident. National Grid customers lost power due to a transformer that was damaged in the crash and the utility pole that was knocked down, but power was restored within a few hours after the company repaired the pole, police said.
Newbury said that the fire department had to call an outside company to work on the porch before removing the vehicle.
The crash remains under investigation by the Saugus Police Department, but a preliminary investigation indicates that the driver may have suffered a medical emergency.
“I’m just glad he’s alive,” said Newbury.
