YARMOUTH – On Monday at approximately 4:30 p.m., Yarmouth Police Officers were dispatched to a motor vehicle crash at the intersection of Willow Street and Cross Street in Yarmouthport.
Dispatch advised that there was a person injured on scene and one of the involved vehicles had fled the scene. Reports indicated that the fleeing vehicle was a maroon pickup truck being operated by a white male wearing an orange shirt. Further reports indicated that the truck became disabled approximately .5 miles away, just west of the Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod on Route 6A in Yarmouthport. Witnesses reported a white male, wearing an orange shirt, walking away from the vehicle west on Route 6A.
Upon arrival to the scene, K9 Patrol Officer Marc Thibeault made contact with a woman who was seated in the driver’s seat of her vehicle experiencing severe back pain. The woman reported she was travelling north on Willow Street and slowed to a stop at the intersection of Cross Street, intending to make a left turn west on Cross Street when her vehicle was suddenly rear ended by a maroon pickup truck. The woman was provided First Aid and subsequently treated and transported to Cape Cod Hospital with non-life threatening injuries by members of the Yarmouth Fire Department.
Dispatch updated the location of the fleeing vehicle with reports from a witness that had been following the vehicle. Dispatch notified that the vehicle may have crashed a second time and the operator had fled toward the east on foot and was last seen turning right onto Summer Street from Route 6A. Within seconds, Patrol Officer Paul Mellett found a male, later identified as John David Waas, 38, of Yarmouthport, trying to conceal himself behind a large tree on the side of the road. With the assistance of Patrol Officer Richard Fichter, Jr. the subject was eventually positively identified as the suspect and he was placed under arrest and transported to Yarmouth Police Department Headquarters. Waas faces charges of leaving the scene of personal injury, and operating negligently to endanger. He was scheduled for arraignment in the Barnstable District Court Tuesday.
Media release and photo furnished by Yarmouth Police
Yarmouth Police commend the actions of the Police Dispatchers, Police Officers, and Firefighters; as well as the concerned citizens who identified the suspect and helped Police Officers track him down and take him in to custody.
