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Police have identified a truck driver who was killed after crashing into a popular lounge and music venue in the Hudson Valley.
Dutchess County resident Craig Allen Dickson, age 33, of Hopewell Junction, was killed around 10:40 a.m., Monday, June 20 when his 2020 Peterbilt tractor-trailer crashed into Junior's Lounge in the town of Poughkeepsie.
When patrol officers arrived on the scene of the crash, they found the truck, which was pulling a fully-loaded dump truck, inside the lounge at 504 Salt Point Turnpike, said Chief Robert Benson, of the Hyde Park Police.
The building was heavily damaged and was being held up by the dump trailer. The owner of Junior's Lounge, Louis C Rossi was inside the bar when it was struck, Benson said.
There was an upstairs tenant identified as Sarah Dempsey sleeping in the front apartment. The crash caused her to be carried out of the building along with her bed coming to a final rest on the top of the tractor-trailer, he added.
Rescuers found her in rubble on top of the truck. Dempsey was transported to MidHudson Regional Hospital and treated for minor injuries, the chief said.
The events leading up to the crash are still being investigated but investigators believe the driver of the tractor-trailer was involved in a crash in the City of Poughkeepsie at the intersection of Weed St and Smith St., police said.
The tractor-trailer left the scene of that auto accident and continued east from Smith Street to Salt Point Turnpike, Benson said.
Witnesses reported the tractor trailer was driving erratically and went into the westbound lane of traffic several times on Salt Point Turnpike, police said,
The Peterbilt continued east on Salt Point Turnpike and just west of Junior's Lounge was involved in a collision with a 2021 Toyota Highlander operated by Kimberly C Glatz of Hyde Park, Benson said.
The impact caused the Toyota to overturn and came to rest on the south shoulder of the roadway. The Peterbilt appears to have over corrected or was deflected from that crash and went off the south shoulder of the roadway and struck the building, he added.
Glatz was extricated from the vehicle and transported to Vassar Hospital for evaluation.
Glatz did not suffer any major injuries.
The Dutchess County Medical Examiners Officer pronounced Dickson dead at the scene.
The building was deemed to be unsafe by the Town of Hyde Park Building Department and was torn down by Amity Construction.
This incident is still actively being investigated by the Hyde Park Police Department, and the state police.
If anyone has any other information or may have witnessed any erratic operation is asked to call the Hyde Park Police Department at 845-229-9340.
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