A two-vehicle collision on Auburn Boulevard flipped a minivan upside down Tuesday afternoon and sent the driver to the hospital with unknown injuries. Three days prior, another vehicle flipped over during a police pursuit that ended several blocks away on Auburn Boulevard at Sylvan Corners.
Police spokesman Anthony Boehle said officers received a call regarding the most recent rollover accident — at the corner of Auburn Boulevard and Sycamore Drive — just before 3:30 p.m. on June 7.
Arriving officers found an overturned red Plymouth Voyager minivan in the middle of Auburn Boulevard along with a white Pontiac Grand Am with front-end damage. The Grand Am was able to be rolled out of the roadway shortly after the accident, while the minivan required a tow vehicle to be removed from the roadway.
Boehle said it appeared the minivan was making a left-hand turn from Sycamore Drive onto Auburn Boulevard when it was struck by a car traveling northbound on Auburn, causing it to flip over.
“It hit it just right, really,” said Boehle, commenting on why the vehicle flipped over. He said an investigation was underway to determine if speed or other aspects may have been a factor.
Police said both parties remained on scene, with the driver of the overturned vehicle able to make a statement to police before being taken away by an ambulance.
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Boehle said the intersection has not been known to have a history of higher-than-usual collisions but pointed to a cross planted at the intersection and confirmed a pedestrian had been fatally hit while crossing the boulevard at the intersection last November. The pedestrian in that incident was taken to the hospital in serious condition and later died from injuries sustained in the collision.
Yasir Ghani, who works at Tire King about 200 feet from Tuesday’s accident, said traffic backed up for a short period following the collision. Police and fire vehicles blocked off one lane of Auburn Boulevard in each direction for at least an hour following the collision.
As previously reported on The Sentinel, police statistics report about 700 accidents in the city each year — a number which has stayed relatively consistent over the past five years.
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