Elderly Woman Dies After Rock Slams Into Car On Rattan Hill

ST. CROIX — An elderly woman died two hours after being removed from a dodge minivan that she was driving up Rattan Hill this afternoon, St. Croix Rescue Chief Gregory Richards told The Consortium late Wednesday.

Mr. Richards said the woman, whose identification has not been released pending next of kin notification, but looks to be in her 60s, was driving up Rattan Hill when a large rock slammed into the vehicle, causing her to lose control. The minivan flipped on its side and the woman, along with a male passenger, had to be rescued by means of extrication, Mr. Richards said.

The male victim’s extrication process was not too difficult. Mr. Richards said that after first responders broke the back glass of the vehicle while it was still flipped on its side, the man, with minimal help, came out. The elderly woman relied entirely on first responders, who had to cut the vehicle’s front glass to remove her, Mr. Richards said.

Upon arrival to the scene, a Consortium reporter saw multiple first responder personnel from various agencies responding to the incident. They included St. Croix Rescue, Fire Service, V.I.P.D. and EMS.

“The patient said while they were coming up the rock rolled down. The earth became soft from all the rain and the rock rolled down as they were coming up the hill,” Mr. Richards said. At that time — around 1:55 p.m. — the victim had suffered lacerations and fractures, Mr. Richards said. The incident occurred just after 1:00 p.m., he said.

She was transported to the Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center via ambulance and died from her injuries two hours later, according to Mr. Richards.

This latest vehicular accident death marks the third for St. Croix in three days; the first two occurring on Monday, first in the morning at about 6:15 a.m. when a man was found in his vehicle that had crashed into a sign and guard railing on the Melvin Evans Highway near the Economic Development Authority’s industrial park, and the other at about 6:05 p.m. that night in Williams Delight, following an incident involving a Toyota Tacoma that flipped and crashed in a yard, damaging the guard fence and other portions of the home. Three others were injured during the accident.

The victim who died in the morning was identified as Roberto Rivera, age 29. The man who died in the evening was identified as 33-year-old Suhmeid Morris.