WATERVILLE — Two women and two young children in car seats were taken to the hospital in ambulances Tuesday after a two-vehicle crash on College Avenue that occurred at the corner of Cottage Street.

Jacqueline Reny, 62, of Vassalboro, was driving north on College Avenue in a Cadillac sedan when a 2014 Chevrolet Sonic sedan driven by Alexis Hewey, 23, of Waterville, apparently went from Cottage Street onto the avenue in front of the Cadillac and the two cars collided, according to Waterville police Officer Steve Brame, who was at the scene. Hewey’s 2-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy were in car seats in the back seat of the Chevrolet at the time and were not injured, he said.

The accident was reported at 11:34 a.m.

Reny said she tried to avoid the Chevrolet but was unable to do so, according to Brame. A witness traveling behind the Cadillac told police Reny applied the brakes, he said.

Hewey told police that she looked both ways before pulling out of Cottage Street to turn left toward downtown, but did not see a car coming north on College Avenue, according to Brame.

Air bags deployed in both vehicles and emergency workers used an extrication tool to remove the driver’s side door from the silver Chevrolet to get Hewey out, Brame said.

Reny was taken by Delta Ambulance to Thayer Center for Health, where she was suffering from elbow, arm and neck pain, according to Brame.

Hewey complained of pain in her abdomen and ribs and was taken by Delta to Northern Light Inland Hospital, he said. Her children went with her in the ambulance, he said.

At the scene and before being placed on a stretcher and loaded in the ambulance, Reny was sitting on the steps of a house at 185 College Ave., being attended to by emergency workers who placed a neck brace on her. The front of her gold-colored Cadillac was smashed in.

Emergency workers were kneeling on the ground by the side of the avenue, tending to Hewey’s two children in car seats, who had been taken out of the Chevrolet.

Brame said later that he applauds the Delta workers, who had enough people on scene to spend time with the children while firefighters worked to get Hewey out of the car and police officers interviewed people and directed traffic. He also commended firefighters.

“They all did a great job,” he said.

Police closed off College Avenue around the crash scene and re-routed traffic.

Arbo’s Towing & Repair Service arrived to remove the cars. The driver’s side of the Chevrolet was smashed in.

The crash occurred in front of the former Marden’s Surplus & Salvage building, which most recently housed the former Salvation Army thrift store.

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