Traffic & Transit
Meriden Car Crash At Gas Pumps Leads To Fire; Driver Arrested: Police
A car slammed into a gas station over the weekend, leading to a fire at the pumps.
MERIDEN, CT — A vehicle struck the pumps at a Cook Avenue gas station, damaging the pump and resulting in a fire. The crash happened at the Valero gas station at 369 Cook Ave. just before 1 p.m. Sunday.
The driver involved was Ricardo Lopez, 24, who was charged with reckless driving, traveling unreasonably fast, and unsafe passing, according to police.
Lopez was passing vehicles on the wrong side of the road while traveling south on Cook Avenue, police said. He lost control of the vehicle and veered out of the travel lane into the gas station's parking lot.
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A video police posted on Facebook shows a car speeding into the gas pumps.
No injuries were reported.
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Lopez's bond was set at $2,500 and he's scheduled to appear in court April 18.
The wreck led to a fire that firefighters quickly extinguished.
An employee inside the business heard a noise, saw the small fire, and hit an emergency shutoff for the fuel pumps, according to The Meriden Record Journal.
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