Crime & Safety

Police Plan to Charge Driver in Route 1A Crash

Wenham police plan to file charges on Wednesday against the driver involved in a serious car crash on Route 1A on Monday night.

The Salem woman that was behind the wheel of a car that crashed on Route 1A in Wenham Monday night will face charges, according to Wenham Police.

The driver, Lisa Lemelin, 20, of 36 Boston St., unit 21 in Salem, was taken to Beverly Hospital after the 9:30 p.m. crash. She was treated and released according to hospital spokeswoman Tina Ketchopulos.

“There will  be charges against the operator,” Wenham Police Capt. Jeff Tobey said on Tuesday.

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Tobey said the investigation has included getting statements from witnesses - much the same as was reported on Hamilton-Wenham Patch on Tuesday morning.

The Pontiac Grand Am that Lemelin was driving southbound lost control on Route 1A, just north of the Beverly city line, and struck a stonewall, flipped and crashed into a utility pole, literally leaving the car wrapped around the pole. Two witnesses – one headed northbound and one headed southbound – both said it seemed as if Lemelin was going as fast as 60 to 70 miles per hour before the crash.

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The crash closed Route 1A for about 90 minutes.

Tobey said investigating officer Shane Kavanagh still needs to follow-up on some items, confirm some information and check on the passenger’s condition at Beverly Hospital. Kavanagh worked on the investigation until 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Tobey said.

The passenger, James Caisse, 21, also of the same address as Lemelin in Salem, was “not gravely injured” and was conscious and talking while firefighters from Wenham and Beverly used the Jaws on Life to cut the roof off the car and get him out after the crash. It took about a half hour for rescuers to free him from the badly damage car.

He was stuck between the console and the door after the crash, Tobey said.

Cassie was in stable, good condition on Tuesday afternoon at Beverly Hospital, according to Ketchopulos.


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