FIERY CRASH: Mother was unresponsive and trapped behind wheel…...

UPDATE — 10/26/15: YPD press statement:

Yarmouth Police Charge Woman with 2nd Offense OUI and Child Endangerment and Off-Duty Cape Cod Hospital Nurse Helps Save Child after Fiery Crash in West Yarmouth

On Friday, October 23, 2015 at approximately 5:00PM the Yarmouth Police Department received a message from the Marshfield Police Department to be on the lookout for a gray Toyota Camry with Massachusetts registration 648JS1 due to reports that the operator, Christine Cogill, was possibly intoxicated and operating the motor vehicle with her six-year-old daughter inside. Marshfield Police conducted a ping on Christine’s cell phone which placed her within a mile radius of Winslow Gray Road in West Yarmouth.

An extensive search of the area was conducted but however the vehicle was not located.

At approximately 7:20PM, the Yarmouth Police Department received an updated ping location from Marshfield Police placing Christine’s cell phone within a mile radius of the Thunderbird Motel on Route 28 in West Yarmouth. Yarmouth Police Patrol Officers Marc Thibault and Jason Batchelder immediately responded to the area and began searching hotels for Christine’s vehicle.

While searching the area, YPD Dispatch Center received a report of a motor vehicle crash involving the Toyota on Route 28 in the area of Higgins Crowell Road in West Yarmouth. The caller reported the vehicle was leaving the scene of the crash and continuing westbound on Route 28.

Within a few minutes, Yarmouth Police Patrol Officers Thibeault and Batchelder located the suspect vehicle crashed into a utility pole on Route 28, just west of Traders Lane. The vehicle sustained heavy damage and the front passenger side tire was missing. Officers Thibeault and Batchelder approached the scene and located the lone occupant of the vehicle (later positively identified as Christine Cogill) unconscious but breathing and trapped behind the wheel. Officers further observed the driver’s airbag was deployed and Christine’s legs were trapped under the dash and an empty child seat in the back. As Patrol Officers Thibeault, Batchelder and Patrol Sergeant Frank Hennessey tried to free Christine from the vehicle, the vehicle caught on fire. The fire was rapidly spreading and soon the engine compartment was engulfed. The driver’s side door would not open. Patrol Sergeant Hennessey broke out the vehicle windows to aid in extricating Christine’s legs from under the dash. From the front passenger side, Officer Thibeault was able to grip Christine under her arms and force her free, over the passenger seat, and out of the car. Officer Thibeault dragged Christine away to a safe area and returned to look for the child. Patrol Officer Batchelder was able to eventually extinguish the fire with an extinguisher.

Officer Thibeault was then approached by Yarmouth resident Denise Galvin, who is a Nurse at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. Nurse Galvin reported that she had the child. According to Nurse Galvin, she witnessed the crash and she stopped her vehicle and approached to render aid. Nurse Galvin said she initially only saw Christine in the driver’s seat and she was unresponsive. As Nurse Galvin was trying to aid Christine, the rear driver’s side door opened and she observed the child and immediately took her to safety.

Members of the Yarmouth Fire Department immediately transported Christine to Cape Cod Hospital. The child appeared uninjured and but was transported to Cape Cod Hospital for precautionary reasons.

The child was determined to be uninjured and eventually released to her family members.

The suspect was treated for her non-life threatening injuries and will be summonsed in to court on a variety of criminal charges. Yarmouth Police also filed an Immediate Threat report with the Registry of

Motor Vehicles to suspend Cogill’s license and a 51A Report to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

The Yarmouth Police Department commends and extends our sincerest thanks to all of the Police Officers and Firefighters involved our team of Dispatchers, the Marshfield Police Department, the citizen and Good Samaritans who provided information and assistance, and Nurse Denise Galvin and everyone at Cape Cod Hospital.

Charged: CHRISTINE A. COGILL

Address: 788 FERRY ST MARSHFIELD, MA

Age: 35

Charges: 2ND OFFENSE OUI LIQUOR

CHILD ENDANGERMENT

OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENTLY SO AS TO ENDANGER

MARKED LANES VIOLATION

[This media release was prepared and distributed by Yarmouth Police Department Deputy Chief of Police Steven G. Xiarhos.]

UPDATE: According to WCVB Channel 5 News, the “mother was arrested on drunk-driving charges after she struck one car and crashed into a utility pole while her six-year-old daughter was in the back seat…” Click here to read WCVB’s coverage on this story!

NOTE: HN was initially informed the daughter was 8-years-old… but more recent reports say that she was 6-years-old.

Initial HN coverage:

WEST YARMOUTH – DEVELOPING – At about 7:30PM, police were trying to catch up to a vehicle which allegedly was already involved in another collision on Route 28 before speeding and driving erratically into a telephone pole.

The vehicle then burst into flames with the female driver unresponsive and trapped behind the wheel.

Police frantically tried to break windows and free the driver from the burning wreck. The vehicle fire was extremely hot and the cabin was filled with smoke. They also desperately searched the smoke filled vehicle for the driver’s 8-year-old daughter who was also in the car at the time of the crash.

According Yarmouth Police Sergeant Thomas Hennessey, he was able to free the mother’s leg just in the nick of time. She was still unresponsive when pulled from the burning vehicle, but any longer would have likely been fatal…

The daughter, first responders learned, had managed to escape the vehicle on her own and immediately was taken care of by a Cape Cod Hospital nurse who was driving by and witnessed the scene…

The little girl was able to walk to an awaiting ambulance and was transported to CCH for further evaluation. Her mother had also just been transported to CCH moments earlier. The mother’s condition remains unknown at the time of this report.

A third woman from another vehicle was transported to CCH with non-life-threatening injuries. Her vehicle may have been involved in a secondary rear-end collision near to the crash scene.

Route 28 in West Yarmouth was completely closed down for a period of time…

The cause of the crash is being investigated by the Yarmouth Police Department. HN will provide updates as soon as they become available.

Additional notes from police sources:

The crash occurred on Route 28 near the intersection with Trader’s Lane.

An initial collision is believed to have occurred just east of Higgins Crowell Road. The vehicle was traveling west on Route 28.

The vehicle was reportedly travelling at a high rate of speed. The front right tire was flat and there were reportedly sparks flying from the rim grinding along the pavement.

The following video highlights a very active crash scene.

[Press play… select HD in the settings and enlarge player for best quality…]