Rollover accident sends six to the hospital

| 30 Sep 2011 | 09:40

SPARTA — A late Saturday afternoon motor vehicle accident on the northbound lanes of Route 15 resulted in serious injuries to six people including five members of one family. Sparta Police received multiple 9-1-1 calls of a double rollover accident shortly before 5 p.m. on May 14. Responding officers found two vehicles overturned onto the median. Subsequent investigation revealed Franklin Boro resident Ranea Dibenedetto, 34, driving North alone in her Honda. Also traveling north but in the right lane was a Safari operated by Diego L Quinchia, 46, of Bergenfield. He was with his wife, two children and another adult female relative. Dibenedetto lost control of her vehicle, struck the Quinchia vehicle and the impact sent both vehicles into a spin where they both flipped and rolled over into the median. Most seriously were injured were Diego Quinchia who suffered serious internal chest injuries and was trapped. He had to be extricated by the Sparta Township Fire Department’s Jaws of Life. Quinchia’s 11-year-old son Sebastian was ejected out the driver side rear window. He suffered serious head and leg fractures. Both father and son were medivaced from the scene in the separate helicopters to Morristown Hospital. Dibenedetto, and the two Quinchia women suffered blunt trauma to the neck, chest and back areas. They were transported via ambulance to Morristown Memorial Hospital for treatment. The accident is still under investigation. Assisting at the scene were; Sparta, Ogdensburg and Franklin First Aid Squads. St. Clare’s Hospital Paramedics, New Jersey State Police Northstar and Atlantic #1 Medivacs. Sparta Fire Department. Hamburg and Jefferson Township Police Departments.