Lyme head-on crash leaves 2 hospitalized

Lyme - Two people were transported to the hospital by Life Star helicopter after a two-car, head-on accident in the area of 343 Hamburg Road (Route 156) Monday morning.

Police said Domitila Rivera, 71, of 208 West Thames St., Norwich, was driving south on Hamburg Road while Brenda Bardales, 38, of Colchester, was traveling north around 9:15 a.m. Their vehicles collided head-on about a tenth of a mile north of Joshuatown Road, according to police.

Rivera was transported by Life Star helicopter to Hartford Hospital, where she was listed in fair condition Monday.

Bardales was taken by Life Star to St. Raphael Hospital in New Haven. Police said she was in critical condition Monday night.

A passenger in Rivera's car, Grace Newman, 74, also of 208 West Thames St. in Norwich, was taken to the Shoreline Clinic with non-life- threatening injuries.

The vehicles were towed from the scene by Reynolds' Auto Garage in Lyme. Route 156 in that area was closed in that area for more than three hours as police investigated.