Car slams doctors' office, neighborhood evacuated
Cell phone dispute causes crash
By LEON THOMPSON
Messenger Staff Writer
ST. ALBANS CITY — A severed gas line caused the city to open a temporary shelter on Main Street early Sunday morning, after a car occupied by six people crashed into a medical practice's office.
At about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, a vehicle driven by Leon Larrabee, 21, of Milton, veered off Fairfield Street in the city and into Northwest Medical Surgical Associates, an office building for doctors Stephen Payne, Michael Kennedy, and Marietta Scholden.
No one was in the building at the time.
City police said Larrabee was engaged in a physical altercation with his sister, Kayla Larrabee, 19, of Burlington, in the front seat, when he lost control of the vehicle. The fight was over a cell phone, police said.
When the car struck the building, it also struck a gas meter, severing a supply line. Central Vermont Public Service disengaged power in the area. Vermont Gas responded to deactivate the line.
City police, city firefighters, and members of the St. Albans Town Fire Department evacuated about a dozen homes on Fairfield Street and Beverly Court. About 12 to 15 people used the shelter at city hall, which was open until nearly 4 a.m., said Gary Taylor, St. Albans City Police chief.
Fairfield Street was closed from Route 104 west to Barlow Street. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office also responded to the scene.
Residents returned to their homes with Vermont Gas employees, who checked gas levels with meters. One man was treated at the Northwestern Medical Center (NMC) after he complained of a burning throat and eyes.