The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

March 19, 2009

UPDATE: Rollover crash injures driver

By Courtney L. Anderson

SOUTH PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP — A Transfer man was hurt when his vehicle rolled onto its roof Wednesday evening on Carlisle Road in South Pymatuning Township and a township police officer is being hailed for assisting him.

South Pymatuning police Chief Tom Kantner said that Howard Derr Jr., 50, was traveling west on Carlisle and at 8:22 p.m. his vehicle went off the right side of the road, hit a culvert and then flipped onto its roof.

Derr received injuries to his head, face and lower extremities and was flown to St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown, where a spokeswoman Thursday afternoon said he was listed in stable condition.

Derr was trapped inside the vehicle hanging upside down and Kantner said that Sgt. Richard Christoff was the first person at the scene.

Christoff broke a window and pulled Derr out of the vehicle as the ambulance arrived. Christoff had to cut Derr out of his seatbelt and cut away some clothes that were caught in the wrecked part of the vehicle, Kantner said.

“He went above and beyond,” Kantner said of Christoff, who was treated at the scene for cuts from the window.

Kantner said the crash happened in the 1300 block of Carlisle near Kane Road.

Kantner said they did not get much information about what happened from Derr after the crash due to his injuries.

No charges had been filed against Derr as of Thursday afternoon.

South Pymatuning Township Volunteer Fire Department assisted at the scene.

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