Delivery truck smashes through parked cars

Ruinous trail ends in flames, mystery

The driver of a delivery truck that smashed into eight parked motor vehicles before bursting into flames yesterday in Allston has twice had his driver's license suspended for excessive traffic citations, according to state Registry of Motor Vehicles records.

The driver was identified by a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation as Timothy Newton, 38, of Revere, who was reportedly treated and released from a Boston hospital. The crashes snarled morning rush-hour traffic and forced the MBTA to use shuttle buses while one branch of the Green Line was halted for about four hours.

Newton was driving a box truck with medical supplies for New England Delivery Inc. of Wilmington. Company officials yesterday declined to comment.

What triggered the crash and fire remained under investigation by Boston police, and a spokeswoman said no charges had been filed.

Newton, who a source said reported that he blacked out just before the first crash, could not be reached for comment.

Registry records show that Newton's license had been pulled for traffic violations or for causing accidents five times between May 2004 and late 2005.

His license was reinstated on July 16, 2007, after he completed a mandatory safe drivers' course for the second time since he obtained his license in the late 1980s.

In 1997, Newton was stripped of his license for 60 days after he was involved in seven accidents or traffic violations, according to the Registry.

His first entry is dated Nov. 15, 1986, when he was ticketed for speeding in Malden. Newton has been involved in seven surchargeable accidents and ticketed for speeding five times during his driving career, according to the Registry.

According to police and fire officials, Newton was driving westbound on Commonwealth Avenue, at the intersection of Babcock Street, when he smashed into five parked vehicles. One collision pushed a pickup on to the Green Line tracks.

Two people in one of the vehicles were taken to Boston hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Newton kept driving down Commonwealth Avenue and hit three vehicles near the intersection of Brighton Avenue. The first car, a 1995 Suzuki, was pushed onto the sidewalk and severely damaged.

The second, a 2006 Range Rover, was pushed into the plate glass window of a commercial office building.

With a third car, a Lexus, lodged in front of it, the truck was driven down Brighton Avenue, where the Lexus exploded into flames, witnesses said. That fire ignited Newton's truck, sending flames 30 feet into the air and creating a heat so intense, the vehicles were welded, officials said.

Moses Botbol, a 38-year-old computer engineer, was riding the MBTA's Route 57 bus as it passed the scene.

"You could feel the heat on the bus window," said Botbol of Brighton, who used his iPhone to snap photographs. "It really looked like someone must have died. It was an ugly crash."

Walter Moura was pressing pants at Kwik Time Cleaners on Commonwealth Avenue when he heard a loud bang and looked outside.

He saw the truck smash into the parked cars and then saw it stop and burst into flames. Explosions followed, which Moura said he assumed were from the tires and gas tanks.

"There was smoke all over the place," Moura said. "In just five seconds, it was all in flames. We wondered how the driver got out of it. It was so freaky."

Firefighters extinguished the fire and briefly treated the scene as a hazardous materials incident. Officials said minimal amounts of automotive fluids leaked into sewers and were not expected to significantly affect the environment.

The owners of one of the smashed cars, Janell and Dennis Ridenour of Allston, stood on Commonwealth Avenue, surveying the twisted and bent white metal that was once their 1995 Suzuki Esteem.

"Thank God we weren't in it," Janell Ridenour said.

Globe correspondent Kate Augusto and George Rizer of the Globe staff contributed to this report.