OAKLAND — A person involved in a crash Thursday morning on Kennedy Memorial Drive has died after being taken to the hospital, police said.
The crash, which happened in front of the new Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant around 10:30 a.m., sent all three people involved to the hospital with what were originally reported by police as minor injuries.
Oakland police Capt. Rick Stubbert said he could not release the name of the person who died because he was still notifying family members, but he did confirm that someone had died.
The crash happened when a man driving a black Mazda3 toward Oakland fell asleep at the wheel and crossed over the centerline, Oakland police Officer Todd Burbank said.
He hit a Chrysler PT Cruiser traveling toward Waterville. The two elderly men in the Chrysler didn’t see him drifting toward them in time to react, Burbank said.
Another car was traveling in the outer lane toward Waterville at the time as well, he said, but the driver saw the Mazda3 drift in time to stop.
Burbank said he didn’t know why the man driving the Mazda3 fell asleep, but nothing indicated he was under the influence of anything.
All three people involved were taken to local hospitals for treatment of what Burbank initially said were minor injuries. Both cars were determined to be total losses, and the Mazda3 had to be hauled away because of extensive damage to its front end.
Traffic was moving slowly in both directions as police directed cars around the area of the accident, where a large amount of fluid had spilled onto the road. Fire and rescue crews poured a quick-dry solution on the oils and brushed them off of the roadway. The road reopened fully around 11:45 a.m.
Oakland police were assisted by the Oakland and Waterville fire departments.
Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
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