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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesWATERFRONT CRASH KILLS 2, INJURES 2 OTHERS

WATERFRONT CRASH KILLS 2, INJURES 2 OTHERS

Acting St. Thomas-St. John police chief Jose Garcia said Sunday that investigation is continuing into the crash of a car carrying four persons early Saturday morning on the St. Thomas waterfront that left two dead.
The vehicle, carrying three women and a man in their 20s, slammed into a utility pole by the Emil Griffith Ball Park around 3:40 a.m. Saturday, killing the driver instantly and fatally injuring a passenger in the back seat.
"The car took a terrible hit," St Thomas Rescue spokesman Mel Rodgen said.
He identified the victims as Tisha Simon, 28, the driver, who died at the scene; Monica Martin, 28, the rear seat passenger, who died of injuries after being transported by ambulance to the emergency room of the Roy L. Schneider Hospital; Antanya Springette, 24, the front-seat passenger; and Terrance Celestine, 23, the other back-seat passenger.
The three women were all cousins, Radio One reported. Simon, the mother of two young children, a teller at First V.I. Federal Savings Bank, had worked there for about three years.
Springette and Celestine were admitted to the hospital and were reported in stable condition Sunday.
The dark green Suzuki Esteem struck the concrete base of a light pole across from the Tortola Wharf. Police said there was evidence that the car had been traveling at "a very high rate of speed" at the time of impact, Radio One reported.
Rodgen said two St. Thomas Rescue vehicles carrying nine Rescue members responded to a call from police on the scene at 3:50 a.m. Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, police and medical examiner's office personnel "all worked together," he said.
They used the "Jaws of Life" to cut the windshield and remove the passenger door in order to remove Springette, whose feet and legs were trapped in the vehicle, he said. "She was wearing a seatbelt, and that is what saved her life," he said.
Simon was also wearing a seatbelt, and the driver's seat had an airbag, he said, "but the impact was so great that everything came in on her."
Rescue workers removed Martin from the back seat and she was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, Rodgen said. A second ambulance transported Springette, and Celestine was tended by medical personnel on the scene until an ambulance came back to take him to the hospital.
The power pole remained erect despite the impact, Rodgen said, noting that the waterfront poles are embedded in concrete and steel. He said the women in the car were wearing cocktail dresses.
Information concerning investigation of the crash was not immediately available from the Police Department.
Rodgen said the tragedy "will probably be my last call" as a member of St. Thomas Rescue. After 20 years on St. Thomas, 18 of them as a member of the Rescue squad, he said he is relocating with his wife back to New York.
"I leave with a heavy heart," he said. "This island is a part of me, and I'm a part of it."

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