Pittsfield, MA : Peter Matthews, 32, narrowly escapes electrocution in South Street crash on Monday, December 1, 2014

A Pittsfield man narrowly escaped electrocution on Monday when his minivan was struck by a utility pole that had just been snapped in a car crash on South Street, according to authorities. The incident in front of the Lipton Mart knocked out power to about 160 customers in the area and caused the closure of South Street in both directions for much of the day. Peter Matthews, 32, of Pittsfield was driving his blue Suburu near the Lipton Mart shortly before 9 a.m., allegedly high on heroin, when he crossed into the northbound lane and slammed into a utility pole, according to police. The impact of the collision dropped the pole and primary electric lines carrying 13,000 volts of electricity onto a northbound minivan driven by Gerald Nkrumah-Bediako, who rescuers say was within inches of the live wires. He was taken to Berkshire Medical Center, where he was treated and released, hospital officials said Monday afternoon. The driver of a third vehicle involved in the crash hasn't been identified. No other injuries were reported. Matthews was charged with operating under the influence of drugs, possession of heroin and failure to stay within marked lanes. He is currently being held in the city police lockup pending arraignment Tuesday morning in Central Berkshire District Court. By 3:50 p.m., utility crews from Western Massachusetts Electric Company had restored power to 160 customers affected by the outage, according to WMECo spokeswoman Priscilla Ress. Due to WMECo's restoration efforts, southbound through traffic on the Route 7 & 20 corridor was detoured via Crofut and Pomeroy avenues. Northbound traffic was directed onto South Mountain and Barker roads as well as Dan Fox Drive. At times, vehicles head north were backed up to Price Chopper in Lenox, about two miles from the South Mountain detour route. source : Pittsfield man narrowly escapes electrocution in South Street crash