On April 1, 2009 at 1036 hrs., the Charlestown Police Department received multiple 911 calls reporting a motor vehicle accident on Rte 1-South,  between Rte 2 and Lakeside Drive.

The operator of the vehicle, Kateie A. Tefft (23) of Fairview Avenue, Hope Valley, RI was the unrestrained driver of a Gray, 2008 Toyota Scion that struck the high speed lane guardrail on Rte 1-South, on the corner just before the Rte 2 exit.  Upon striking the guardrail, the vehicle then shot across all lanes of travel and went off the road coming to rest into the woods.

Charlestown Rescue transported Tefft, who stated that she was 3 months pregnant and was complaining of both abdominal pain and had obvious signs of a closed head injury, to a Landing Zone across the highway in an open field on Falcone Lane.  Life Star Air Ambulance out of Wm. W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, CT transported Tefft to Rhode Island Hospital's Trauma Center.   While en route to the Trauma Center Tefft's condition rapidly deteriorated where as of 1PM today she was listed in critical condition.

Speed and other underlying issues are suspect in the cause of this single vehicle accident.  The accident scene is currently being reconstructed by members of the Charlestown Police Department.

-From the Charlestown Police Department