BELCHERTOWN — A teenager from Henniker, New Hampshire, has been identified as the victim in a Sunday night car crash that left a North Main Street home with significant damage.
Miles Murray, 19, was driving a 2011 Nissan Altima south on Route 202, being pursued by State Police, when he lost control on a left-hand curve, flew over a mulch bed, struck a rock wall, a large tree and two light posts before crashing into a Jeep parked in the driveway and the 73 North Main St. home.
Murray, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene, police said. The force of the impact dislodged the car’s engine block, which flew through the home’s brick wall.
Homeowner Trevor Sims, who had come home from work and was doing his usual routines, including feeding the cats, made himself dinner and sat down.
“It was quite the night,” Sims said. “As soon as I sat down, the car bounced off the house.”
At the same time, the engine launched into the home’s second floor, narrowly missing his mother-in-law, who was upstairs. Sims immediately went upstairs and saw the smoking engine and the gaping hole in the wall.
Sims then left the home and encountered a state trooper, who thought the driver had run from the scene. But Sims heard rustling in the bushes behind the house and noticed Murray’s body lying there.
Trevor and Donna Sims bought the 1832 brick Colonial, their first home, 2½ years ago. “Even engineers had never seen anything like this where the engine ejected. It was chaotic,” he said.
Donna Sims, a nursing assistant, was at work in Northampton when she got the call from her husband. She thought perhaps something had happened to her mother.
“This is worse,” he told her. “A car just drove through our house.”
It was a long drive home, she said, imagining what might have caused such a thing to happen. She had to park down the street from her home. Her husband and mother were outside, and there were police cars, firetrucks and lights everywhere.
“I saw two giant holes in my house,” she said. “I was horrified.”
She said she stayed there until 3:30 in the morning, waiting for the Red Cross, who gave the family $600 on a card so they could stay a couple of nights in a hotel until they were able to talk to their insurance company.
She said getting the engine out of the house was no small task. Contractors had to stabilize the building before they deemed it safe to lift the engine out with a crane, finally removing it just after midnight Tuesday.
The crash occurred during a pursuit where, instead of stopping, the driver sped away, ran a red light at the intersection with Route 9, then failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway and went off the right side of the road.
It’s a big disruption for her family, but Donna Sims said it’s a terrible loss for the young man’s family.
“I feel so bad,” she said. “I have two sons, 21 and 23. I can’t imagine. He had his whole life in front of him.”
Efforts to support the Sims family are underway, including monetary donations through a GoFundMe page, food being dropped off and Paul Adzima, the building inspector, assisting the family as best he can.
“All the people who have supported us have been great,” Trevor Sims said.
He said he doesn’t have any estimates for the amount of damage yet. He said his family expects to be in a hotel, possibly in Northampton, later this week. He also may set up a trailer on site or rent somewhere else for the longer term.
“We will be shoring it up so we can get stuff out,” Sims said, adding that he has been provided a list of general contractors who can handle the repairs needed at the historic home.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic, take it day by day,” Donna Sims said.
The crash remains under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police and the Belchertown Police.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
