[Updated: 2:30 p.m.] FARMINGTON – The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has provided an update about the circumstances which led to a crash at the north end of Main Street this morning.
According to Sheriff Scott Nichols, deputies became involved after receiving a complaint from a driver traveling south on Route 27. The complaint related to a pickup truck that was reportedly passing other vehicles on the left and right at a high rate of speed.
Deputy Kevin Hartley encountered the pickup truck at the intersection of Route 4 and 27 in Fairbanks, where his cruiser was almost struck head on by the truck. The deputy turned down Routes 4 and 27 and followed the pickup truck, which the sheriff said approached 75 mph while going through a 30 mph zone. The operator of the truck lost control of his vehicle near the WWI monument at the intersection of the state roads, Box Shop Hill Lane and Belcher Road, an area known locally as Horns Corner.
The pickup truck struck three vehicles in the ACME Engineering and Medulla Hair Salon parking lot and rolled over, damaging a fourth through the dislodging of a sign. All primarily-involved vehicles were totaled as a result of the crash.
The operator, identified only as a 17-year-old resident of Eustis, was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital for a medical and psychological evaluation, according to the sheriff. He has been charged with driving to endanger and eluding an officer. Additional charges through the Farmington Police Department and Maine State Police were possible, the sheriff added.
The Main Street/Fairbanks Road area was totally reopened to traffic at 2:41 p.m., approximately three hours after the crash.
[Updated: 1:45 p.m.] Traffic on Routes 4 & 27 are in the process of being reopened to traffic.
FARMINGTON – A juvenile in a pickup truck was allegedly fleeing from police south Routes 4 & 27 toward downtown this morning when his vehicle rolled over, resulting in damage to four vehicles in a nearby parking lot on Main Street on Wednesday.
Farmington Police Department and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office personnel interviewed witnesses and began mapping out the crash scene, as Farmington Fire Rescue firefighters laid down sand to absorb leaking fluids and assisted people in accessing possessions from damaged vehicles. Traffic is being rerouted up Box Shop Hill Road, with residents of nearby homes gathering in the shade near the WWI monument. Several reported hearing a loud noise or seeing smoke before determining a crash had occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m. this morning.
The juvenile’s vehicle, a dark blue and gray Ford F250 4×4, apparently left the roadway north of the parking lot and struck fence posts and uprooted a tree in front of a Main Street residence before entering the Acme Land Surveying parking lot. Two parked vehicles were badly damaged, one apparently crashing sideways into another, with that vehicle in turn knocking over a business sign mounted on two concrete pylons. A dark Dodge pickup truck received damage to its rear, while a third vehicle, a minivan, was damaged after a dislodged road sign flew across the parking lot and broke its windshield.
The Ford F250 rolled over in the middle of the southbound lane of Main Street. According to Farmington Police Department Deputy Chief Shane Cote, the juvenile got out of the vehicle before being apprehended by police. It is not clear at this hour why police were pursuing the vehicle.
The juvenile was transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital to be checked out, Cote said. No one else was transported as a result of the crash.
Traffic is being diverted around the crash scene up through Box Shop Hill Road. Tractor trailer trucks are lining up along Main Street to await the reopening of Route 4 and 27. Motorists should expect delays as crews work at the scene. One alternate route for many motorists may be the Town Farm Road.
Both FPD and FCSO are investigating the crash. More details on this story will be posted as they become available.
He should NEVER drive again.
He is lucky he walked away from that truck!!
Red, tell us more about what it was like to be young and never make foolish mistakes.
He may be lucky, but the community is not.
Corey- We all make foolish mistakes… this one could’ve cost lives and DID cause a lot of property damage. Just saying.
Most of us learn from our mistakes, Hell, I probably would have done it too in my younger days when I had a few, but not now. I hope everyone is fine.
Yeah, lets pull that license for a while. Walking may do him some good! Glad no one was seriously injured and I really hope he had insurance to cover those other cars!
Made many FOOLISH mistakes in my time still manage a few to this day . You can be old and make foolish mistakes. This is a little more than that my friend. This was criminal and endangering to the community. A foolish mistake is more like putting bleach in with colors. This kid should lose his driving privileges for a good long time.
Praise God that no other people were injured. This could have been SO much worse had he made it into the center of town.
It’s terrible, but the cops need to stop chasing, take the plates and catch him after.
Glad to see it didn’t go through Rich’s house or into the Acme’s building. Should do some time for this and loose his license for a LONG time, this was no foolish mistake….. Thank God no one was hurt or killed that’s a lot of mass moving at a high rate of speed.
RED: AGREED!!!
> This could have been SO much worse had he made it into the center of town.
Indeed he then would have been more likely to have hit a person (or several) – though even where it occurred (just a block from town center) he’s very lucky. Speaking as someone who’s home appears in some of the above pictures, I can say most any time I look out at the street here there’s someone walking along this part of the road.
Also traffic at this north end of town certainly has speed issues, just a moment ago a semi truck came by going very muchl over the posted 25 MPH and that happens all day long. Often they’re still engine-braking hard as they pass my home heading into town, or (going the other way) with the pedal on the floor accelerating hard even though they haven’t fully left town yet.
I appreciate the police effort to write speeding tickets in this area – which they write plenty of, but it seems to me they tend to catch those “passing through” vs. those who come through daily because they’re usually doing it in the late evening rather than the more busy parts of the day.
At any rate, slow down in town folks!
This was a choice not a mistake.
Scary situation. Was he in the right? Absolutely not. The article has a telltale hint as to what could be going on. “Psychological evaluation”. May he get the help that he needs.
Its Obama’s fault, no MacDonalds in Eustis.
Glad everyone is OK.
The community is actually very lucky. There are a few people that suffered some property loss today, but had this man made it into downtown, no one knows how many people may have been hurt or killed. A huge thank you to the Sheriff’s Deputies for all they do to keep us safe.
This young man is very fortunate to have not hurt others or himself worse than he did. Four totaled vehicles, and one with some damage….looks like around 100,000 in damage.
Get him healthy again, and help him understand the consequences. Did everyone just feel your insurance rates go up?
I am glad he is alive!
Good job from the police. He would have killed people if he had made it into downtown.
That corner has been the site of many accidents, most of them involving people driving too fast for the sharp corner. Only this young man knows why he was diving so fast and passing vehicles on the left and right. I do hope that loss of his license for a long time as well as some community service and possibly repayment to those who’s vehicles he damaged. Maybe (HOPEFULLY) this will be a lesson to him and other drivers his age that speed is not always a good thing.
When someone almost strikes a vehicle head-on, after complaints of passing on the left and the right at high rates of speed, you seriously want the police to look the other way? Police chases are dangerous for everyone, sometimes the weight of getting the person stopped outweighs those dangers. The police were not chasing him until he almost struck a police cruiser head-on. His driving didn’t change because the police were behind him. LIke “Scary” said above, he was taken for a psychological evaluation, do you seriously think that person is using rational thought? You would rather have a person not in control of their faculties driving an 8000 pound vehicle at 75 miles an hour through down town Farmington weaving through traffic like he was reported to have been doing before the police were involved? He wasn’t stopping for the police, do you think he would have stopped for the traffic lights or pedestrians in the cross walks? People who don’t stop for the police fail to use rational thought, perhaps that is something you have in common?
As he was speeding BEFORE the police became involved, it makes me wonder if perhaps someone he cared for had become ill and been taken to the hospital or had some other emergency and in his temporary panic, he disregarded safer driving in an attempt to be by their side?
I am very glad he didn’t injure anyone else in his haste. That said, in all honesty I feel he should loose his license for a time. The chances of taking a life with his erratic driving were too great and that is something he needs to realize.
He ripped up my drive way he come from stratton
I for one can’t accept the “We were young and foolish” concept on this! I live on Boxshop hill,work nights at the mill this week,and having a flow of traffic outside my bedroom window proved to be detrimental to my napping! Thanks youngster,for your idiotic indiscretions!
I don’t care if it was a foolish mistake or the results of some other reason. You still need to man up and be responsible for your actions. The days of the good ole’ Boys just whooping it up a little have come and thankfully gone! There is nothing funny or fun about any of this! I am so thankfully no one was seriously hurt. This young man needs some serious reflection time and maybe some time working off the debt in the after time of said reflection. Possible this can turn out to be a life lesson….I hope so! But in the meantime he should be force to reap the penalty of such STUPID actions.
Hang on a second: did we not just read he also went in for psych evaluation? Let’s also keep and open considerate mind that perhaps this young man needs some psychological help and support. Not everyone is just a ‘bad kid’.
@Trish – With the information the law enforcement officials were given and when one deputy was almost hit head-on by this kid, you are seriously on here saying the cops need to “catch him after”? AFTER WHAT?!?! Many communities have restrictions on “chasing”, but you’re not even thinking clearly when you say something like that. This individual could have killed someone! Looking the other way, taking down a plate and attempting to “find him” aren’t even logical options in this situation. THANK YOU TO ALL THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS INVOLVED TODAY!
I saw some of this as I was at the end of 27 waiting to turn left towards town when I saw this pick up through my rear view window coming at me at such a high rate of speed. I saw my life flash! The pick up avoided hitting me by swerving to it’s left and exiting 27 through the North entrance, that is where he nearly came head on with the officer. I am grateful for this officer and law enforcement, Things could have been so much worse.
This was a choice, not a foolish mistake. This young man chose to drive recklessly for many miles, continued to do so despite almost hitting a police car then being pursued by the police. It is a miracle that no one was severely injured or killed. It could have very easily ended very differently with several innocent fatalities. I hope he is punished severely and his license to drive is revoked. This is above and beyond a “youngster” being careless or foolish. Driving is a privilege.
If you’re trying to justify this as a folly of youth you’re an idiot…
He probably went for an eval because of something he said during his interactions with law enforcement coupled with his erratic driving. He could have killed that deputy when he came at him head on. Lets not make excuses for this kid and look at the facts of the situation. Trish, I’d also like to know how this became the police’s fault. Someone previously mentioned the fact that he didn’t stop for lights and sirens, what makes you think he would have stopped for crosswalks and red lights, or to add to that one of those super cool skateboarders downtown who struggle with following town ordinances…
He almost hit me head on in New Vineyard passing on a corner.
He’d better be prepared for the consequences of his behavior. And he’d also better be prepared to pay for all the damage he did. I hope his insurance company passes all the expenses on to HIM, and requires he make restitution for all the damage – every single dime – for the damage he did.
When do “consequences” come into play?
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Oh how we love a good story.
Thanks Marc Edwards!!!
High speed chases never end well – Glad everyone is OK!!
Thanks to the persons who brought nice cold water to those doing reconstruction and directing traffic at the accident scene on Wednesday. Thanks again.
The Franklin County Sherrif’s dept, Farmington Police, and the Farmington Fire Dept responded exemplary! We are fortunate to have great men and women in these departments. Thank you!
Anyone who witnessed this man’s driving yesterday should be sure to contact the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office to make a out a statement.
Old enough to have a license = old enough to be named for behavior.
It makes no sense to me:
16 yo = driver’s license at 18 yo = can be drafted/enlist, vote, but you can’t consume alcohol until you are 21. It is a well documented medically that. especially with males, the frontal cortex of their brain (the area for decision making,) doesn’t fully develop until early to mid 20’s.
Seems like a lot of mixed messages – how about simplifying it and make 21 the legal age for everything…… just sayin’
Sorry George, I’ve met far too many super-responsible 16 to 20-year-olds and too many irresponsible young adults over the age of 21 to agree with your 21+ idea for things like driving and serving in the military. Though I completely share your frustration about mixed messages, especially in light of this potentially lethal car wreck.
It’s only 25 mph!
Scary,
Avery astute observation. Perhaps the young man suffers from schizophrenia or some other mental illness.
We just don’t know and likely won’t given that he is a juvenile.
Great job all responding officers!!!
The world isn’t completely black and white everyone.
There is no just bad person or just good person.
There is a lot of gray area in between.
Simply because he made a bad decision at a young age doesn’t make him a horrible person.
@farmergirl, what could a mythological god have to do with it?
I saw the crash happen.. My House is very close to the location of the crash… It was a miracle that nobody was seriously hurt. It is quite common for people to walk down Main Street, and Its a busy road for cars as well…