STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

 

NEWS RELEASE

FATAL MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH

 

CASE#: 23B1004344                                   

RANK/TROOPER FULL NAME: Trooper Victoria Neufang

STATION: Westminster  

CONTACT#: 802-722-4600

 

DATE/TIME: 7/1/2023 at approximately 7 p.m.

STREET: Betterly Road and Lost Mile Road

TOWN: Newfane

WEATHER:  Clear

ROAD CONDITIONS: Dry

 

VEHICLE #1

OPERATOR: Matthew Conlon

AGE: 40

SEAT BELT/HELMET? No

CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Pepperell, MA

 

VEHICLE YEAR: 2016

VEHICLE MAKE: John Deere

VEHICLE MODEL: TS Gator 4x2

DAMAGE TO VEHICLE #1: Minor

INJURIES: One fatal injury, one suspected broken leg and other minor injures 

HOSPITAL: Brattleboro Memorial Hospital

 

VICTIM: Finley Conlon

AGE: 7

CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Pepperell, MA

 

 

SUMMARY OF CRASH:

The Vermont State Police is identifying the victim in this incident as Finley Conlon, 7, of Pepperell, Massachusetts. He was riding in a UTV operated by his father, Mathew Conlon, 40, also of Pepperell. The adult passenger is identified as Bradley Palmer, 24, of Natick, Massachusetts. The other passengers were two girls, ages 10 and 8, and two boys, ages 9 and 8.

 

No further information is available at this time.

 

 

***Initial news release, 1:30 a.m. Sunday, July 2, 2023***

On 7/1/2023, at approximately 7 p.m., members of Vermont State Police Westminster Barracks responded to a report of an ATV crash with injury on Lost Mile Road in Newfane, Windham County. Investigation revealed that Matthew Conlon, 40, of Pepperell, Massachusetts, was operating a John Deere Gator, a Crossover Utility Vehicle (UTV), with six passengers, one adult and five children, on Lost Mile Road in Newfane. Conlon lost control of the UTV on a curve in the roadway. The UTV overturned, causing injuries to several passengers. A 7-year old boy was transported by ambulance to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased. The other passengers suffered other minor injuries. 

 

Impairment is not believed to be a factor in this crash.  This investigation is ongoing and in its early stages. Anyone with information relevant to this crash is asked to call the state police barracks in Westminster.

 

Members of Rescue Inc. and the Dummerston Fire Department assisted on scene.

 

- 30 -