Thomas Monahan died from the impact a chain-reaction of crashes in a case state police are investigating.
HOLYOKE – Thomas P. Monahan rushed outside to help, and wound up getting killed.
A car that flipped over in front of Monahan’s Lincoln Street home Saturday was struck by another car and the impact from that crash battered Monahan, who died Monday, police said.
“It’s a tragedy, someone goes out to help someone and this happens,” Ward 7 City Councilor Peter R. Tallman said Tuesday.
Monahan, 53, of 144 Lincoln St., worked in all aspects of the heating and air conditioning trade. He loved his family, fishing, gardening and photography, the obituary from Farrell Funeral Home said.
Police were called to Lincoln Street at 11:39 p.m. Saturday, Officer Kenneth J. Moriarty said.
Maureen Healy, 31, of 91 Lincoln St., who is a Police Department records clerk, was driving a 2003 Honda. The Honda struck a parked vehicle on Lincoln Street and flipped onto its passenger side, Moriarty said.
“At that point, it just kept getting worse,” Moriarty said.
Monahan and other Lincoln Street neighbors heard the crash and ran outside. As they were helping Healy, a 2004 Mitsubishi came down Lincoln Street driven by Tiffany Renardson, 22, of 57 Pleasant St. That car struck the Honda, which slammed into Monahan, Moriarty said.
“I believe he ended up with head trauma,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty said police had yet to receive information about the cause of Monahan’s death. A Baystate Medical Center spokesman said he was unable to comment.
A state police accident reconstruction team is working on the case, so decisions about citations and factors in the accident have yet to be determined, Moriarty said.
“Me and my dad were sitting here watching TV and we heard a big bang and we came out,” said Jared S. Roberts, 23, of 147 Lincoln St.
The commotion on the street is what confuses Cherelyn A. Roberts. She can’t figure out why the crowd of people wielding flashlights and moving around a flipped car at midnight failed to stop the next car, she said.
“All of a sudden, I heard someone yelling, ‘He’s not stopping, he’s not stopping,’” she said, unaware the driver was a woman.
“We had people with flashlights, doing this,” said Roberts, waving her arms. “I don’t know how they didn’t stop.”
Monahan was survived by his wife of 29 years, Susan (Breen) Monahan, and children Thomas, Casey and Maria. Monahan was predeceased by a son, Jack Diamond Ahearn, the obituary said.