Police ID Richmond Crash Victim As Wakefield Man, 73

WAKEFIELD, RI — Police identified the victim of a fatal crash in Richmond last week as Howard Melish. The 73-year-old was a Wakefield resident.

The crash happened around 3:45 p.m. July 1 near Richmond Elementary School. According to Richmond police, the driver of a truck lost control while driving east on Route 138. As the truck rounded the curve in the road, it swerved into the westbound lane, hitting another vehicle nearly head-on, police said. The second vehicle spun off the road, landing in the school's driveway.

Melish, the driver of the second vehicle, was killed in the crash, and his passenger, a woman, was seriously injured, police said.

Everyone involved was believed to have been wearing a seatbelt, according to police.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated which vehicle the victim and his passenger were in at the time of the crash. Patch regrets the error.