By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- A four-car accident at the intersection of Oak and 14th streets left two people injured on Tuesday morning.
Lt. Mike Stanton of the Niles City Police Department could only confirm that four cars were involved and that two of the passengers were injured and seeking medical treatment.
The accident occurred at about 8 a.m. and eyewitnesses say it happened when an SUV was traveling south on 14th Street and ran the stop sign at the intersection and hit a car traveling east on Oak Street.
The SUV apparently flipped over and then rolled over a car, occupied by a crossing guard at the intersection, on the other side of Oak Street and then hit a parked van.
Niles resident Greg Fuzi, 21, was riding his bike down Oak Street when the accident occurred. He was one of the first on the scene and said he tried to help those involved in the accident.
Fuzi said he saw two young men flee the SUV on foot after the vehicle had flipped over. He also said there was a young woman left injured in the vehicle.
Police had a K-9 unit on the scene that was apparently looking for the possible subjects who fled the scene.
Retired Niles police officer Max Cole, who lives at 16 14th St., did not see the accident, but was standing in his living room as it occurred.
He immediately called 911 and went to the scene to see if he could help. "When I saw it, I knew this was a really bad accident and that someone was probably hurt," he said. "It looks like it could have been a lot worse."