Crime & Safety

Landscaping Truck Slams Into House

Police say steering may have malfunctioned, home is uninhabitable.

A landscaper lost control of his truck and crashed into a house in North Caldwell Thursday afternoon, according to police.

North Caldwell resident Tom Drago, owner of Drago Sons Landscaping, told police he lost control of the steering when his truck apparently malfunctioned on Hemlock Drive. Drago ran over a mailbox on one property before swerving to the other side of the street and riding down an embankment and hitting the house.

Drago was transported by the West Essex First Aid Squad to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston for evaluation, North Caldwell Police Chief Mark Deuer said. 

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The truck created a hole in the facade of the home, knocking out bricks and living room windows as well as bursting radiator pipes. Water from the pipes flooded the home, which was deemed uninhabitable. Gas, electric and water to the house was turned off.

Deuer said nobody was home at the time of the accident and there were no other occupants in the truck.

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The North Caldwell Fire Department and PSE&G responded to the scene.

The accident remains under investigation.


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