Polk Township MVA 10/27/2005

West End assisted Station 35 with a serious MVA around midnight. Station 43 assisted with Medevac landing. Here is the article from poconorecord.com. Again we see why you need to wear your seatbelts.

Four teens involved in serious car crash

By CATHERINE RODRIGUEZ

Pocono Record Writer

POLK TOWNSHIP -- The West End community is anxiously waiting for word on the condition of four teenagers involved in a violent car crash in Polk Township early Thursday morning.

Andrew Monahan, 18, and Dylan Hurley, 19, both of Kunkletown and an unidentified 17-year-old were critically injured in the crash, which occurred on Route 209 between Burger Hollow Road and H.T.Y. Road just after midnight.

Another teen, identified as Ryan Bernard, 19, was also in the car, but it was not clear whether he was injured.

Police said that the car was driven by Monahan and was speeding when it spun out of control and hit a wooden pole, broad-sided a tree and then rolled over, ejecting all four from the car.

Kristine Grams, who lives in the house on Route 209 where the car hit a tree before rolling over and landing on its roof in a corn field next to the house, said that she and her boyfriend Santiago Rodriguez heard a noise "like a car accelerating" on Burger Hollow Road and then heard a loud thump that "didn't sound right."

"It was probably when they hit the tree," she said.

Grams hesitated to go outside to look, but Rodriguez walked outside and saw the car on its roof about 100 feet into the corn field. An off-duty state trooper drove past the scene and called 911.

According to Rodriguez, one of the car's occupants was trying to call his mother and a couple, who stopped to help, was sitting with him.

"He was shaken up really bad," Rodriguez said. "He was really cold and the couple gave him a sweater."

Monahan and the 17-year-old were airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown. Hurley was airlifted to St. Luke's Hospital near Bethlehem.

"It's difficult, there's no question about it," Pleasant Valley High School Principal John Gress said. "Three of these students graduated last year. They're all very close to other students."

Gress said that at least two of the victims were on the football and soccer teams.

"I don't feel good about it at all," he said.

Gress said that the school has assembled a crisis management team including himself, assistant principals, guidance counselors and the school nurse and psychologist.

Gress announced the accident to students Thursday morning because he thought that some of them may have seen it on the news.

"I let the student body know that it was a serious, serious accident. I told them to just keep hoping and praying for them," he said.

The crisis team will be on standby today because they're not sure how the students will process the information once they're at home.

"We just keep stressing, be safe out there," Gress said.

Pleasant Valley Athletic Director Jake Percey said that he coached Bernard and Hurley on PV's soccer team for four years. The team won league championships every year the teens played.

"They were both extremely competitive," Percey said. "They were inseparable."

Percey wasn't sure what they had been doing since graduation. He thought that one might have been entering the service and the other might have been going to school locally.

This is not the first time Pleasant Valley High School has dealt with tragedy this year. Last month, 16-year-old sophomore Jessica Dettrey of Effort was killed in a crash in Sciota. And a year ago, 16-year-old junior Rebecca Nelson died in a crash.

"You hate to see anything like this happen to kids when they're young like this," Percey said. "I'm hoping that everyone's going to be OK. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families."

There was no information on the condition of the teens in the hospital as of Thursday evening.

Reporters Gema María Duarte and Dan Berrett contributed to this story.