Syracuse, NY -- Two people were taken to a hospital as a precaution following a rollover crash this afternoon on Westmoreland Avenue in Syracuse. Joseph Hernandez, 19, told police he was driving north about 2:30 p.m. on Westmoreland Avenue when he crested the top of the hill and saw a car he thought was coming into his lane, Sgt....
View full sizeTwo people were taken to a hospital following a rollover crash on Westmoreland Avenue on Syracuse's East Side.Syracuse, NY -- Two people were taken to a hospital as a precaution following a rollover crash this afternoon on Westmoreland Avenue in Syracuse.
Joseph Hernandez, 19, told police he was driving north about 2:30 p.m. on Westmoreland Avenue when he crested the top of the hill and saw a car he thought was coming into his lane, Sgt. Gary Bulinski said.
The 2005 Hyundai went off the right side of the road, clipping a fire hydrant and crashing into a couple of trees before it rolled down an embankment and came to rest on its roof in the 700 block of Westmoreland Avenue, Bulinski said.
Hernandez, of Syracuse, and his passenger, Tiffany Mullen, 20, of Syracuse, were taken to Upstate University Hospital as a precaution, Bulinski said.
“It sounded like a loud thunderstorm,” said Greg Reilingh, who was two houses away from the crash.
The car crash combined with trees dropping down on one another made it sound “almost like an explosion,” Reilingh said. Afterward, witnesses were struck by the potent smell of gasoline and burnt rubber, he said.
Emily Schwartz was inside her home next to where the car came to rest. She said she heard a noise that sounded like something being dropped down the stairs.
“I heard someone scream, ‘It’s going to catch fire. Call 911,’” she said.
“It was smoking for a while,” she said.
The two occupants of the car both got out by themselves and were walking around after the crash, Schwartz said.
No tickets were issued, Bulinski said. Police are still investigating the crash.