Orange man died in motorcycle crash on Merritt

A motorcyclist was killed after crashing into a contractor's truck on the Merritt Parkway at the Westport-Friday late Friday.

John Scalesse, 49, of Arrowhead Drive, Orange, died while being transported by an American Medical Response ambulance to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport shortly before midnight, according to State Police. He suffered severe head and internal injuries, police said.

Scalesse is listed as the executive of JAS Masonry, LLC, 135 Rogers St., Milford.

Scalesse's motorcycle, a 2001 Honda FLSTF, suffered heavy damage when it apparently skidded into the rear of the O & G truck about one-half mile before northbound Exit 44. O & G is the contractor for work on the parkway and the nearby Mill River bridge, according to State Police.

Neither Edward Ferenz Jr., 59, of Trumbull, nor Travell Joyner, 22, of Bridgeport, who were in the truck when it was struck, were injured.

Firefighters from Fairfield and Westport, who were dispatched to the motorcycle scene, were called to the scene of multi-vehicle accident involving a tractor-trailer truck at the towns' border on Interstate 95 just a few hours later.

The accident, shortly before 6 a.m. between I-95's Exits 18 and 19, snarled traffic in southbound lane for several hours.

Westport Assistant Fire Chief Michael Kronick said the tractor trailer jack-knifed and the cab rolled down an embankment. The driver, however, escaped injury.

Two passengers in a heavily damaged SUV had to be extricated from the vehicle by firefighters, and were transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Kronick said.

The names of the two victims were not immediately available.

Westport firefighters remained on the scene while a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Haz-Mat Response team cleared vehicle fluid from the highway.