Alcohol eyed in serious crash in Chesco

Alcohol is suspected to have played a role in a serious car crash in Tredyffrin Township last night that left one person critically injured, police said today.

Police were dispatched at 9:53 p.m. to the 800 block of Old Eagle School Road near the intersection of Wallace Drive, Tredyffrin Police said in a statement. Officers learned that the driver of a 2002 Saturn, who was traveling southbound on Old Eagle School Road near the Wallace Drive intersection, improperly passed and sideswiped a 1999 Volvo.

The Saturn's driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a utility pole before exiting the roadway; the driver and his two passengers, whose names have not been released, sustained multiple injuries, the release said.

One of the passengers was flown to the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania with critical injuries; Tredyffrin Township Lt. Anthony Giaimo said he remained in critical condition today. The driver and the other passenger were taken to Paoli Memorial Hospital, and the three occupants of the Volvo were evaluated at the scene, the release said.

Giaimo said the occupants of both vehicles - males in their mid-20s - knew each other. He said that officers detected a strong odor of alcohol on the breath of both drivers and that police are awaiting tests results to confirm their suspicion that the drivers were impaired.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Tredyffrin Township Police Department at 610-644-3221.