SKOWHEGAN — Police didn’t know Tuesday who was driving a pickup truck that crashed Saturday morning on the horse racing track at the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds.

When police arrived about 4:30 a.m. the 1999 gray Ford pickup was found with both the driver’s-side and passenger-side doors open and no one around, Deputy Police Chief Dan Summers said Tuesday.

Additional Photos

A utility pole and fence were damaged at the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds early Saturday morning. Contributed photo by Jane Calder

The four-rail fence near the finish line of the gravel track had been smashed and a utility pole snapped in two. Tire marks on the track showed a vehicle had swerved near the final turn on the half-mile-long track, then corrected, but then veered off again and crashed through the fence.

Summers said the last known owner of the truck is a 24-year-old woman from Norridgewock, but police have not been able to find her for questioning.

The first call that police received late Friday was that the truck was stolen from Norridgewock, Summers said. That report appears to be in error, however, and the truck was not stolen, said Chief Deputy Dale Lancaster of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

Summers said there was damage to the front quarter panel on the driver’s side and the case remains under investigation.

Gates to the fairgrounds and the racetrack are open to motor vehicle traffic from Fairgrounds Market Place, where Hannaford supermarket and Walmart are.

Walter Hight of the Skowhegan State Fair said the damage to the fence and utility pole is estimated at $4,000 to $5,000.

“If the want to see how fast they can drive around that track they should take driver’s ed first,” he said Tuesday.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com

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