Oct. 10--HICKORY -- Parts of southwest Hickory and Long View were without power until 9 a.m. Thursday because a vehicle truck crashed into a utility pole at the intersection of First Avenue and 17th Street, SW.

The accident happened at around 8:30 p.m., when the 2007 Toyota truck driven by Frank Joseph Lenoir, 47, of Fourth Street Boulevard, NW, careened into a utility pole, according to Hickory Police reports.

Hickory Police Capt. Clyde Deal said Lenoir was not injured but the crash caused significant damage.

"It actually tore the traffic signals down," Deal said.

Lenoir was charged with a lane violation.

The crash damaged a Duke Energy utility pole and a city traffic control box.

Deal said the preliminary estimates state that the crash caused $2,500 in damage to the pole and the box and another $10,000 for the truck.

The pole Lenoir crashed into was a four-circuit pole, which complicated repair efforts and required Duke Energy to shut off electricity to residents at about 2:30 a.m., said Duke spokeswoman Rita Sipe.

Sipe said electricity was cycled off and on as the repair work progressed and at the work's peak, about 2,000 homes were without power.

Deal said that because power was knocked out along a stretch of U.S. 321, Hickory police officers were dispatched to direct traffic along the corridor.

Portable stop signs were erected at some of the smaller intersections, but officers manned the larger ones all night long.

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