Police: Avoid midtown intersection where utility pole was toppled

Motorists are asked to avoid the intersection of 18^th and L streets Tuesday morning where a large truck knocked over a telephone pole.

A refuse truck was traveling west on L Street and was about to turn right on 18^th Street about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday when another vehicle bolted through the intersection in front of the truck driver.

The truck driver was forced to make a sharper turn, sending him into the utility pole on the corner, according to police. The pole splintered at the base and the communications line went down across L Street.

An officer at the scene did not have an estimate of when the intersection would re-open. The driver of the truck was not injured. The other vehicle, a dark-colored sedan, did not stop.