Gloucester Police Tuesday executed a search warrant for the blood and medical records of the 22-year-old city man who was driving a car in a rollover accident Sunday morning — and who remained hospitalized in critical condition in Boston as of last night.
Cody Stanton of Washington Street is currently facing charges of drunken driving, driving to endanger and a marked lanes violation from his hospital bed at Brigham and Women's Hospital, according to police.
Stanton was driving three friends on upper Washington Street near Mill Pond at 1:11 a.m. Sunday when he lost control of the car, causing the vehicle to hit the curb and flip over.
Stanton, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the car and had to be taken via helicopter to Boston for treatment, according to the police report finalized Tuesday.
Stanton suffered "severe head trauma," according to the police report. He was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit Tuesday night, according to a Brigham and Women's representative.
Austin Sousa, 21, of Mount Pleasant Street, and Austin Hale, 25, of Burnham Street — two of the passengers — were treated at Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital, respectively, and released Sunday. Michael Porcaro, 20, Essex Avenue, the other passenger, refused medical attention at the scene, according to police.
Massachusetts State Police are assisting in the investigation of the accident. But Gloucester Police said beer bottles were found at the scene of the accident, and investigators believe Stanton was intoxicated while driving.
As bad as the accident was, police said Stanton and his passengers are exceedingly lucky it wasn't worse.
"They missed a telephone pole by just a foot," said Detective Thomas Quinn.
The car was found on its roof by rescuers.
The passengers were able to crawl from the wreckage, according to the police report, but Stanton had to be removed from beneath the car by emergency personnel.
Police collected the medical records and blood sample from Stanton Tuesday, and dropped them at the state forensics lab for testing, which could take up to six months for analysis, police said.
According to the police report, a passenger told them Stanton was speeding and said he asked Stanton to slow down before the accident.
The passenger reportedly told police he was so concerned about how fast Stanton was driving that he put on his seatbelt seconds before the crash. Stanton and another passenger were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.
Stephanie Bergman can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3451, or at sbergman@gloucestertimes.com.
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