Rochester man badly hurt in North Main Street crash

Scene of Sunday night's accident on North Main. (Rochester Police photo)

ROCHESTER - A Rochester man was seriously injured on Sunday when his vehicle struck a utility pole then ended up wedged against a railing outside a downtown business.

Police got the call around 10 p.m. for a single-vehicle accident on North Main Street in the area of Cleary's Cleaner and Charlie's Pizza.

When they arrived they found the vehicle up on the railing of the walkway to one of the businesses and a utility pole down.

After a brief investigation it was determined that a 2005 Ford Escape driven by 23-year-old Nathan Sweeney was traveling north on North Main Street when it crossed into the opposite lane of traffic, went off the road, struck the utility pole and then rolled until it came to rest on the railing of the building.

Sweeney, who was partially ejected in the crash, sustained serious injuries and was transported to Frisbie Memorial Hospital.

Several nearby buildings lost power and the street was shut down, while the Escape sustained heavy damage and was towed.

The businesses were closed at the time of the accident and the building was unoccupied. Sweeney was the lone occupant of the vehicle.

The roadway around the crash site was expected to be closed for several hours while utility crews repaired the utility pole.