Trio escape burning car in Painfield

PLAINFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) -- Three people were able to escape a burning car following a crash in Plainfield.

Police were called to the intersection of Starkweather Road and Sterling Hill Road in the Moosup section of town around 5:40 a.m. to reports of a crash.

Police say the car had struck and snapped a utility pole, cutting power to the area. After the collision, the car flipped over and caught fire. Officials say the car was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived.

No one was inside the car, but a short distance from the crash police found Cherelle King, 20, who told officers she was a passenger in the car.

King and two other people were able to escape the car through a rear door.

She sustained minor scrapes and bruises in the crash and was treated at the scene.

Police later located the other two people in the car, 19-year-old Jacob Hughes of Warwick, Rhode Island, and 19-year-old Raymond Greene III of Coventry, Rhode Island.  

Hughes was taken to Backus Hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Greene, who was the driver, was arrested for evading the scene of a motor vehicle accident, misuse use of registration plates, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and failure to drive in the proper lane.

He was released on a written promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in the Danielson Superior Court on September 4.

Starkweather Road was closed for several hours between Grove Street and Sterling Road while crews made repairs to the utility pole.