by Courtney Naliboff

One car flipped and another sustained frame damage after colliding at the intersection of Willow Avenue and Highland Avenue June 2.

“Thank God I had my seatbelt on,” said Charlotte E. Lee, 33, whose white Toyota Rav4 flipped on its roof after being struck by a black Nissan Xterra SE.

Lee said she was driving down Highland Avenue toward Davis Square when the driver of the Nissan ran a red light at the corner of Willow Avenue and Highland Avenue.

“I saw him coming through the intersection. I was trying to come through without him hitting me,” she said.

Lee, who was going home to wait for a mattress delivery and let her dog out, said she was listening to the news on the radio.

“I think he was just going too fast. I couldn’t do anything,” she said.

“I don’t know if he hit my door or the front of my car,” she said.

Her vehicle rolled onto the sidewalk on its two side wheels, and nearly struck a pedestrian.

“The white truck had the green light going down Highland, and the black truck came screaming across Willow, ran the red light and hit the other truck,” said Joe R., who was on the sidewalk at the time of the accident.

“First thing I did was look up at the traffic light and saw she had the green light,” he said.
Joe R. said he looked up and saw the white Toyota rolling toward him.

“The only thing that saved me was the fire hydrant between me and the rolling truck,” he said.

The Toyota made contact with the fire hydrant, said Joe R., and knocked it completely out of its socket and onto the sidewalk.

Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher of the Somerville Fire Department said the hydrant is turned on via a gate valve, and was not activated at the time of the accident.

“It’s like a faucet,” he said.

“I was pretty damn lucky, I guess, but I’m going to go get my hardhat to protect me for the rest of the day,” said Joe R.

The Toyota flipped on its roof after colliding with the hydrant, trapping Lee in the vehicle.

“I was hanging upside down,” said Lee.

Lee said passersby came to help her get out of her SUV, and fire department response was immediate.

She also said police arrived quickly.

Lee sat on the sidewalk around the corner from her flipped vehicle and called co-workers at Beth Israel Medical Center to take her to the emergency room.

“I got cuts on my hands from the broken glass,” said Lee.

Lee is a research lab manager for diabetes and obesity research at Beth Israel.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do,” said Lee. “I’ve never experienced this before.”

Lee, who lived in Boston for 12 years and has been in Somerville for 1, asked public safety officials to retrieve her bible from the vehicle.

The driver of the Nissan, 19-year-old Lloyd A. Chelbaco, said he was speeding at the time of the accident.

“Before the light, I hit the brakes and this monstrosity happened. I was already on
the brake, and then I saw the car,” he said.

Chelbaco, a biomedical engineering student at Tufts University, smoked a clove cigarette and clutched a black notebook as he stood on the sidewalk, looking at the flipped Toyota.

“It’s pretty macabre,” he said.

Chelbaco’s Nissan sat in the street perpendicular to the Toyota.

The vehicle’s frame was damaged, said Chelbaco, and external damage was also apparent.

Glass shards and fluids leaking from both vehicles covered the sidewalk on the corner.
Firefighters scattered absorbent agents on the fluids and collected the debris.

Holly Truong and Claudia Le, employees of Victor’s Convenience and Lottery Agent, which is located at the scene of the accident, came outside to inspect the glass storefront windows, which were undamaged.

“[The Toyota] literally was touching the window of the store—not to glorify it or
anything, but it was insane,” said Chelbaco.

Jack Connolly, an independent insurance agent, said if Chelbaco is the person most responsible for the accident, his insurance agency will be responsible for all damages.

“That could be very costly,” said Connolly.

“Hopefully, he’s got enough insurance on the property damage he did cause,” he said.

Chelbaco, who said he was unhurt, said everyone at the accident scene was helpful and patient.

Chelbaco, who planned on returning that day to his home in New York City, said he thought he would receive a citation.

“I don’t think it should be like, Here’s why SUVs are bad,” said Chelbaco. “It’s [like], Why being irresponsible on the road is bad.’”

“I think I’m done with cars for a while,” he said.

In a phone interview June 10, Lee said she had been to the doctor twice since the accident and sustained minor whiplash and a headache.

“I’m very lucky I’m okay,” she said.

Her insurance agent assessed her Toyota as totaled, she said.

“I’ve been taking the T,” she said. “I’m in no rush to get in a car again.”

Lee has driven once since the accident, with her family who came to visit her following the accident, but said she would be hesitant to drive alone.

Lee said she hadn’t spoken with Chelbaco since the accident.

“I’m just thankful I’m alive, and the seatbelt really saved my life,” she said.

“I’m really thankful about the Somerville police and fire department; they came really quickly. The people who witnessed it did a lot to help,” said Lee.

William Tauro of Pat’s Towing took photographs of the accident with his
camera-phone, said Lee, and emailed them to her following the accident.

“Looking at that one picture just convinced me more that it actually happened.”